Tampa FLSA Defense Lawyer

Are you looking for an FLSA defense lawyer in Tampa, FL?

At Hoyer Law Group, PLLC, we provide FLSA defense representation from a firm with 50 years of combined practice and recognition from The National Trial Lawyers.

If the Department of Labor has opened a wage and hour investigation, or a former employee is claiming unpaid overtime, a Tampa, FL FLSA defense lawyer at Hoyer Law Group, PLLC can step in. Our attorneys handle overtime disputes, classification questions, and Wage and Hour Division audits for employers.

Sean Estes, one of our founding members, has been selected to The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 in Florida and has practiced in Tampa since 2008. We also advise companies on contracts and workplace policies, so we tend to identify wage problems before they become lawsuits. A confidential evaluation of your pay practices or the claim you received is the place to start.

FLSA Defense Lawyer Tampa, FL

An FLSA defense attorney represents the employer when an employee, a group of employees, or the Department of Labor alleges that workers were underpaid under federal wage law. That covers overtime claims, minimum wage claims, misclassification disputes, and the recordkeeping questions that come with all three. The job is part litigation and part accounting. Someone has to reconstruct who worked which hours and what they were owed. The employer’s numbers need to be ready before the other side’s are.

In 2022, the Department of Labor recovered $1,943,241 in back wages for 139 workers of a single Tampa employer that had missed several payrolls. A Tampa FLSA defense attorney reviews the pay practice at issue and calculates the realistic range of liability. The defense is then built around the records that exist.

Types of FLSA Defense Cases We Handle in Tampa, FL

Wage claims tend to start small and expand. One employee’s overtime complaint becomes a records request, and a records request becomes a collective action. Our Tampa, FL FLSA defense lawyers handle each stage of that progression.

• Overtime claims. The employee alleges unpaid time-and-a-half for hours over 40 in a workweek. We check the hours actually worked and the rate used to calculate overtime. Bonuses or commissions left out of that rate are a common source of liability under the current overtime rules.
• Exempt employee misclassification. A salaried manager, administrator, or professional claims the exemption never applied. The duties test decides these cases, so we compare what the job description says with what the exempt employee actually did each week.
• Independent contractor misclassification. Workers paid on a 1099 basis assert they were employees entitled to overtime and minimum wage. We evaluate the relationship against the DOL misclassification standards and the way the parties treated each other in practice. The label on the contract is rarely the deciding factor when a court looks at an independent contractor arrangement.
• Off-the-clock work. Pre-shift setup, unpaid meal breaks that were interrupted, and after-hours email all generate claims. Timekeeping systems and written policies are usually the center of the defense.
• Tip credit and tip pool disputes. Restaurants, bars, and hotels face claims over tip credit notices, side-work hours, and who was allowed to share in the pool. These cases move quickly toward group claims because the pay practice applies to an entire staff.
• Unpaid commissions. A departing salesperson claims commissions on deals that closed after separation, or disputes how the plan was applied. We review the plan language and the payment history before responding.
• Collective actions. A single plaintiff seeks to represent every similarly situated employee. We contest conditional certification where the facts support it and, where they don’t, we work to narrow the group and the time period before collective action notice goes out.
• Wage and Hour Division investigations. The agency requests two or three years of payroll and time records and interviews employees. We manage the production and attend the interviews. We also negotiate the back-wage computation before anything is finalized.

Why Choose Hoyer Law Group, PLLC as my FLSA Defense Lawyer in Tampa, FL?

Pay Practices Reviewed Before an Investigator Reviews Them

Most wage claims trace back to a decision that seemed reasonable at the time: a salary for a supervisor who spent most of the week doing hourly work, a contractor agreement for someone who kept a set schedule, or a bonus that was left out of the overtime calculation. We help employers fix those decisions before an auditor finds them. Our business practice handles the related handbook, contract, and policy work as general business counsel. When a claim has already arrived, the same knowledge of how the pay plan was built shortens the defense.

Our representation is billed hourly or on a flat fee, and we tell you which one applies before work starts. The initial evaluation carries a flat fee, applied to your bill if you hire us. Business owners get the same treatment from an employment lawyer in Tampa, FL that they’d expect from their outside counsel.

A Founding Member Recognized Among Florida’s Top 100 Trial Lawyers

Sean Estes leads our Tampa office and has been reselected to The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 in Florida. He earned his law degree cum laude from the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He is a member of the Federal Bar Association and serves on the Florida Bar Annual Convention Committee. That federal court background matters because FLSA cases are filed in federal court far more often than in state court.

Understanding FLSA Defense Cases

What Is the FLSA Defense Case Timeline?

Agency investigations are slow and document-heavy, while private lawsuits move on a court schedule.

• Demand letter or agency notice. A plaintiff’s attorney sends a demand with a damages estimate, or the Wage and Hour Division schedules an opening conference. Either one should prompt a litigation hold on time and payroll records.
• Producing records. The employer produces two to three years of pay data. What is missing from those records shapes everything that follows.
• Complaint filed. In a private case, the employee files in federal court, often with a motion to certify a collective action within the first few months.
• Conditional certification and notice. If the court grants notice, other employees receive a letter and a window to opt in. The size of the case is decided here.
• Discovery and the damages analysis. Both sides retain accountants or build spreadsheets. Depositions of managers and payroll staff follow.
• Resolution. Most cases settle after the damages numbers are exchanged, and finalizing the settlement paperwork usually adds several weeks.

What Are Important Aspects of an FLSA Defense Case?

A wage case depends on records and on the rate used to compute the amount owed. As FLSA defense attorneys in Tampa, Florida, we focus on five points in every matter.

1. Time records. When the employer’s records are incomplete, the employee’s own estimate of hours is often accepted unless the employer can rebut it. Accurate timekeeping is the single strongest defense.
2. The classification decision. Exempt status and contractor status must be supported by what the worker actually did, not by the title or the agreement.
3. The regular rate. Nondiscretionary bonuses, shift differentials, and commissions generally have to be folded into the rate before overtime is calculated.
4. Good faith. An employer that can show it tried to comply, by seeking advice or following written guidance, has a path to reducing liquidated damages.
5. Retaliation exposure. Discipline or termination after a wage complaint creates a second claim that is often easier to prove than the first.

Overtime Rules, Exemptions, and Damages in FLSA Defense Cases

Federal wage law requires covered employers to pay at least the minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime for hours beyond 40 in a workweek, unless the employee falls within an exemption. The exemptions are narrow, and the employer carries the burden of proving that one applies.

Damages are where these cases become expensive. An employee who prevails recovers the unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, which doubles the award, along with attorney’s fees and costs, according to DOL back pay rules. The look-back period is two years, extended to three years when the violation was willful. In a collective action, those figures are multiplied across every employee who opts in, which is why the certification fight matters as much as the merits.

What Should You Bring to Your FLSA Defense Confidential Evaluation?

The evaluation is more productive when we can look at the pay data alongside the claim. Gather what you can from the following list.

• The demand letter, complaint, or Department of Labor notice
• Time records and payroll registers for the employees involved, covering at least the past three years
• Job descriptions, offer letters, and any contractor agreements
• Bonus, commission, and tip pool plans in effect during that period
• Your written timekeeping and overtime policies

Our Tampa, FL FLSA defense attorneys review those materials through our client portal before the meeting. During the evaluation we explain the likely liability range and the strongest defenses. We also tell you what it will cost to resolve the matter.

Tampa, FL Wage and Hour Agencies and Courts

Wage disputes involving Tampa employers move through three local institutions.

• WHD Tampa District Office. Federal investigations of Tampa Bay employers are run from this district office.
• Hillsborough County wage recovery program, which routes local wage theft complaints to mediation through the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit’s mediation and diversion office.
• Tampa Division federal court, which hears FLSA lawsuits from Hillsborough County and six surrounding counties.

Reach Out to Hoyer Law Group, PLLC to Schedule a Confidential Evaluation

Unpaid overtime accrues with every pay period, so the earlier a pay practice is reviewed, the smaller the number in the demand. Our fees are hourly or flat, and the flat evaluation fee is credited if you hire us. A Tampa FLSA defense lawyer reads your payroll records before the first meeting, and our office answers the phone at any hour. Contact us to schedule a confidential evaluation of your pay practices or the claim your company has received.