Morgan & Morgan Investigating Claims of Unpaid Overtime on Behalf of AML and BSA Analysts

Having “analyst” in your job title can feel great. It bestows upon you an elevated role and level of importance at your firm. But what if it’s all a facade? What if your employer just gave you that title to avoid paying you the money you’ve earned?This happens a lot more than you might realize. Employers will often try to cut costs by misclassifying their employees as salaried and therefore exempt from overtime, instead of as hourly, non-exempt employees. Another way employers misclassify employees is by claiming the employee is an “independent contractor” and not a bona fide employee under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act.

The FLSA requires time-and-a-half overtime pay for most employees who work over 40 hours a week, but avoiding that requirement through misclassification of workers ostensibly helps companies save money and avoid certain legal obligations. It isn’t right and it isn’t legal.

Misclassification allows employers to extract more work from you without having to pay you for it. You don’t have to just accept this illegal practice, though. You might be able to file a lawsuit to recover the wages you weren’t paid 

In my time as a labor lawyer I’ve seen pretty much every kind of FLSA violation you can imagine and I strive to help workers take on their employers to right those wrongs.

I’m currently representing Anti Money-Laundering (AML) and Bank Secrecy Act analysts who allege that they were victims of misclassification and are owed unpaid wages.

These analysts have suffered wage theft in a few different ways. Some are misclassified as independent contractors and paid straight time (their hourly rate) for all hours worked, including overtime hours. Others are deemed overtime-ineligible under what is called the “administrative” or “white-collar” exemption, allowing the employer to pay a salary and that’s it.

The administrative exemption likely doesn’t apply to these analysts, though. Their work requires virtually no independent judgment or discretion when it comes to significant matters — they operate under strict guidelines and policies on when to escalate matters and typically don’t have the type of job duties that the white-collar exemption was designed to cover. Classifying these analysts under this exemption is likely an abuse and violation of the FLSA and subsequent regulations.

If you are a current or former Anti Money-Laundering and/or Bank Secrecy Act analyst, I would like to hear from you. You may be eligible to recover unpaid overtime wages.

It’s time to end overtime wage theft. Contact me on LinkedIn, at [email protected], or at (888)OVERTIME for more information.