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Paralegals in Texas Owed Thousands of Dollars in Unpaid Overtime

Nearly half of paralegals were once classified as exempt employees. However, the introduction of the Fair Pay Overtime Rules in August of 2004 made it much harder for employers to classify their paralegals as exempt employees.   The United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued the Fair Pay Overtime Rules in order to better interpret the white collar exemptions allowable under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Under the former FLSA regulations, many paralegals were considered to be exempt employees and were forced to work long hours without being paid for overtime.  However, under the new rules, most paralegals are considered non-exempt employees and are entitled to receive overtime compensation.
 

Why aren't paralegals exempt?

In order to be classified as an exempt employee, one must meet certain criteria. Most paralegals meet the minimum salary requirement of $455 per week. However, most fail to meet the two primary requirements for the administrative exemption.

• First, they do not exercise independent discretion in their job. This is true because they are supervised by attorneys.
• Second, even if they are exercising independent discretion, paralegals and legal assistants are "production employees," not administrative employees. A true administrative employee does not actually produce the service or product sold by the employer. Because law firms are in the business of providing legal services and paralegals are part of that service, they do not qualify as administrative employees under the FLSA. A human resource or book keeper might qualify for the administrative exemption, but not most paralegals.

Some firms also classify paralegals as exempt "learned professionals;" however, in most cases law firms cannot meet the strict test to prove that paralegals are learned professionals under the exemption. Most paralegals do not qualify as exempt learned professionals because an advanced academic degree is not a standard prerequisite for the position. Although many paralegals possess bachelor's level degrees, most paralegal programs are associate programs and can be completed in two years at a community college or equivalent institution. The learned professional exemption applies, if at all, only to paralegals who have other advanced degrees and who actually use that knowledge in their job. For example, a paralegal who is also an engineer and uses her engineering skills in her job might be exempt from overtime as a learned professional.  

Am I owed overtime compensation?

Because of the nature of the work, the responsibilities and duties of paralegals vary on a case by case basis.   Therefore, each case should be examined individually to determine whether the paralegal is exempt.  However, in most cases, paralegals are not exempt employees.  

Hidden Time Worked 

When we have represented paralegals in the past, we discovered through interviews that most of them were performing work before and after the normal work schedule.  Of course, we run our own law firm and we know the demands we place on our own paralegals.  With this knowledge we were able to build a lost wage model much higher than what the client ever expected.   For example, do you ever:

• Return a call to the office after hours?
• Respond to work-related text messages?
• Check your email at home?
• Work at home?
• Work even in some minor way while you are on your lunch break?

If so, you may be entitled to compensation. If you are not an exempt employee, then you are required by law to be paid for working more than 40 hours per workweek, even if you are guaranteed a salary. You may be due compensation for the tasks, work, email, text messages, and phone calls that occur outside of your working hours!  In fact, you are probably even entitled to double your back pay as liquidated damages.  If you are a paralegal in Texas who is working more than 40 hours per week and not receiving overtime compensation, then you need to consult with a Houston, Texas overtime lawyer who specializes in overtime law for paralegals.

Contact a Houston, Texas paralegal overtime lawyer at Kennedy Hodges for a free, confidential consultation about your exemption status and unpaid wages.  We have successfully represented paralegals and legal assistants against some of the largest law firms in Texas.

To read more about an actual client we have represented please click here.

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, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Jose, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, San Francisco, Columbus, Charlotte, Detroit, and more.

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Blog for Paralegal

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Library for Paralegal:

• Why Many Houston Paralegals are Misclassified under the FLSA   
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• The Holiday Bonus and Paralegals – Should a Holiday Bonus Affect Overtime?   
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• Earning Bonuses as a Paralegal – The Discretionary Bonus and Overtime Pay   
  Are you a paralegal not receiving fair overtime pay? Protect your paycheck with a free book and consultation by calling Kennedy Hodges at 888.449.2068.
• Misclassified Paralegals Miss Out On Hundreds of Dollars from Paychecks   
  Are you a Houston paralegal not receiving overtime pay? Protect your paycheck with a free book and consultation by calling Kennedy Hodges at 888.449.2068.

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Frequent Questions for Paralegal:

• My boss requires me to answer my emails and phone calls at all times, even if it is after hours, but I do not get paid for time I spend doing so. How can I change this?

• I am a paralegal who often works more than 45 hours per week. We were told in July that our holiday bonus will be $10,000 and should be considered part of our yearly pay. I only make $25,000 per year, and my overtime is based on 1.5 times my hourly rate of $12.00. I was also told that I’ll only receive my holiday “gift” if my boss thinks that I did a good job. Is this allowed?

• Are interns supposed to be paid?

• Are paralegals in Texas eligible for overtime pay under the FLSA?

• If I'm a paralegal or legal assistant, do I automatically lose my right to overtime pay?