I work for a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in Florida. We provide community mental healthcare in a capacity that works with Medicaid and Medicare, Lutheran services, and receives grants to fund specific programs. I am an hourly/non-exempt employee.
Today, I made two discoveries regarding my pay, and am wondering what my next steps are (if any).
I was hired in October at $16.00/hour in position X. I found out today that I was entered in under a different position title Y, and have been paid $15.26/hour. My coworkers J (who has been there 1.5 years in position X) and O (who has been there 1 month in position X) are both earning $16.00/hour. This $0.74 difference amounts to roughly $950 I haven’t earned in the 8 months I’ve been there working 40 hours a week. Am I entitled to this money back?
The other thing I noticed is that for overtime, I and my coworkers are paid half. Not time and a half. Half. So for every hour over 40 that J works a week, she gets paid $8/hour. And for every hour I work over 40 a week, I’ve been getting paid $7.63 (at the incorrect hourly wage listed above). To my understanding, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 29 U.S.C. § 203 guarantees “time-and-a-half” overtime pay to non-exempt employees when people work over forty hours a week. Is there any reason that this wouldn’t apply to me? Or at the very least, why I wouldn’t be entitled to just my regular wage as opposed to half? I’m not forced to work overtime by any means, but because we’re so understaffed, it frequently feels unavoidable.