Your most basic right as an employee is to be paid for the work that you do. The U.S. Congress, and the Colorado General Assembly, have enacted a number of laws that recognize the importance of this right. If you are a member of a union, your collective bargaining agreement may impose on your employer additional requirements as to pay rates and hours.

Here are a few questions we frequently get about wage and overtime claims.

Q. When does my employer have to pay me?

A. Unless you expressly agree to a different arrangement, your employer must establish regular pay periods. These periods can be no longer than one month. You must be paid on regular paydays no more than ten days after the close of each pay period.

Q. I've been fired. When should I get my final paycheck?

A. When you are fired, your employer, in most cases, is required to pay you by the end of the same business day. (If the employer's accounting unit is not open when you are fired, you must be paid on the following business day.)

Q. I quit my job. When should I get my final paycheck?

A. When you leave a job voluntarily, your employer is not required to pay you until your next regularly scheduled payday.

Q. My employer has not given me my paycheck. What can I do?

A. The Colorado Wage Claim Act allows you to send the employer a written demand for wages. If you send the demand and the employer still doesn't pay you what you are owed within fourteen days, the employer can be held responsible not only for your pay, but for the attorney fees you incur recovering your pay. If you send the demand within sixty days of the day your employment ends, you may be able to recover a penalty from the employer in addition to your pay and attorney fees. The penalty is normally the greater of ten days' pay, or an amount equal to 125% of the first $7,500 owed plus 50% of the remainder of the pay you are owed.  The penalty may increase by an additional 50% if the employer willfully withheld your pay.

You can get a wage demand form, and report the incident to the Colorado Department of Labor, by calling (303) 572-2241. Or, call, e-mail, or stop by our office and we can provide you with the form without charge.

Q. What is overtime?

A. In general, if your employer permits you to work more than forty hours per week, you are entitled to overtime time at a rate one and one-half times your regular hourly rate. However, there are a number of exceptions and variations to the general rule.

The overtime rules are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act, a Federal law, and in rules the U.S. Secretary of Labor has adopted. The Act and the rules are lengthy and complicated, but the most common exceptions relate to certain types of employees: professionals, executives, managers, high-level administrators, outside salespeople, and workers in certain specialized industries. Workers within these exceptions are commonly referred to by employers as "exempt."

For example, certain employees working in a "bona fide" executive capacity are not required to receive overtime. Whether an employee is genuinely working in an executive capacity depends in turn on a number of ther factors described in the regulations, including the level of responsibility, number of employees supervised, and how the employee is paid. 

Q.  I've heard there are new overtime regulations for "white collar" workers.  What do they say?

A. The U.S. Department of Labor has enacted new regulations that took effect August 23, 2004.  The regulations make important changes to the "white collar" exemptions: those that apply to executive, administrative, and professional employees.  In general, the new regulations provide:

If your employer is planning to change its overtime policies, or reclassify your job, because of these regulations, you may need independent legal advice.

You can get more information about the new regulations from the Department of Labor's website at www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/main.htm.

The Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy, estimated that the new regulations would mean over eight million workers would no longer be eligible for overtime pay.  You can learn more at the EPI's website at  www.epinet.org/content.cfm/overtime_2003

Q. My employer says I don't have a right to overtime because I'm on a salary. Is that right?

A. No. If all an employer had to do to avoid paying overtime were to pay on a salary basis, all employees would be salaried, and the overtime laws would be meaningless.

To be exempt from paying overtime to an employee, the employee must fit within one of the specific exemptions described in the law. There is no general exemption for salaried employees.