Q: Is my employer obligated to pay me over-time?
I live in Tennessee and work for a medium sized business based in Illinois. My job involves traveling to clients and performing monthly servicing of equipment. I have no managerial responsibilities, no direct reports, and no sales responsibilities. Also, no special skills are required to do my job. Within our payroll system, I am classified as non-exempt. I am paid a salary of ~$135k. I have never been asked to submit a time report.
In late 2019, the other 2 employees in my region were terminated and their clients were reassigned to me. Since then, I have worked 60 - 70 hours per week on average to get all of the work done. Management is well aware of this. I also average ~1,000 miles a week on my personal vehicle, for which my employer only pays for gas...no mileage or maintenance reimbursement
My two questions are:
1) What claims do I have, if any?
2) My employment agreement specifies Illinois as the choice of law. Is TN or IL the proper venue?
A:
A lot more facts are needed to analyze whether or not you should be classified as exempt. However, your situation does sound similar to cases we have handled in the past. There is an issue with the amount of money you are making that broadens the argument for your employer. If you are improperly classified as exempt, your claim would be for unpaid overtime wages.
More information is needed in regard to venue. Illinois is likely the proper venue because of your employment agreement, but without seeing the agreement, I can't be certain.
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