Technicians entitled to “off the clock” pay, overtime compensation

Technicians are often one of the most commonly misclassified employees in Texas. Working long hours, traveling to different sites and having to be on-call for the times when unforeseen problems cause machines to malfunction can be stressful and tiring.

But add to that the fact that many technicians do not receive overtime pay for the hours over 40 that they work in one week, and fuel is added to the fire.

What few people know is that technicians are entitled to overtime and fair wages just like many other professions. But since a technician's job duties often include travel and not consistently having one site from which to work, it is not uncommon for employers to wrongly exempt them from overtime, or fail to pay them for the hours that they are entitled to be paid for.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, technicians are entitled to be paid for the following activities:

• - Traveling between jobs
• - Training
• - All time worked before and after clocking in
• - Attendance at company meetings
• - Stocking and preparing the company vehicle
• - Cleaning the company vehicle
• - Gathering supplies
• - Ordering materials
• - Completing paperwork outside of the office or location of work
• - Waiting for clients

It is also important to note that if a technician must work during part or all of his or her lunch break, he or she is entitled to be paid for that time as well.

But many employers are ignoring these regulations set up by the U.S. Department of Labor, which is resulting in lower paychecks and no overtime for these hard-working technicians. For example, Canon Business Solutions and Canon USA are currently being investigated for the unfair treatment of their technicians. Employees are claiming that they were not receiving compensation for working through their lunch breaks, nor were they paid for the work that they were performing from home. Even though they are technically "off the clock," the work is still being performed and they should be compensated for it. The Canon companies are also under scrutiny for not paying their technicians for mandatory training.

The FLSA requires technicians to be paid for training regardless of method used. For instance, techs should be paid even if the training takes place online from the worker's home.
If you are a technician facing similar problems, you need information. Contact the Texas fair overtime attorneys at Kennedy Hodges, LLP for your free copy of the Ten Biggest Mistakes That Can Hurt Your Wage and Overtime Claim by calling 888.449.2068. Or fill out the online form to schedule your free case evaluation where an attorney will sit down with you, review your claim and provide you with the best solution to protect your paycheck.

The Texas overtime lawyers at Kennedy Hodges represent workers nationwide and across Texas in:
Houston, Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Pasadena, Laredo, Sugar Land, Lubbock, Illinios, New York, Massachusetts, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Columbus, Charlotte, Detroit, and more.