Employment · North Carolina

Can I sue for unpaid overtime in North Carolina?

the short answer

Past 40 hours in a workweek you are owed one and a half times your regular rate. The federal rule counts by the week and not by the day, so an eleven-hour Monday is not overtime if the week stops at 40, and two weeks may not be averaged together. Nothing in it requires extra pay for nights, weekends or holidays.

source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

everywhere in the u.s.

governing statute29 U.S.C. § 207(a)(1)source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

penaltyThe unpaid overtime, and an additional equal amount again as liquidated damages. The court must also allow a reasonable attorney's fee and the costs of the action (29 U.S.C. § 216(b)).source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

limit2 yearssource ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

alsoTwo years to sue, or three if the violation was willful (29 U.S.C. § 255(a)). The clock runs paycheck by paycheck, so every week you wait drops a week off the back of the claim.source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

in this state

Where do you report unpaid overtime in North Carolina?

free route

The Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Bureau will not take an overtime complaint. Its own filing page lists minimum wage, overtime and wages that include overtime among the things that must go to the federal Wage and Hour Division instead. What it does take is unpaid wages excluding overtime, final paychecks, vacation pay and unauthorised deductions — and it says it will not accept those for wages due more than a year ago.

source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

Which court hears a case like this in North Carolina?

which court

District Court, heard by a magistrate

source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

How much can you sue for in North Carolina small claims court?

small claims limit

$10,000

source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

What else should you know in North Carolina?

also

So in North Carolina the free route for overtime is the federal one, and the state office will tell you the same thing if you call it. That is not a dead end: a Wage and Hour Division complaint costs nothing, is confidential by law, and is the same claim the page above describes.

source ↗Not yet checked against the statute.

your situation

That is the rule. Whether it is your answer is a different question.

Everything above is the law as it reaches everyone in North Carolina. What it means for you turns on facts only you have. Tell us what happened and we'll ask the same questions a lawyer would — about 90 seconds, free, and anonymous.

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