How Do You Prove You Worked the Overtime Hours?

Although an employer is legally required to maintain accurate records of the hours an employee works, it is not unusual for employers to fail to do this, like when they coerce an employee to work off the clock, or just in some other way engage in wage theft. What if the individual's own testimony about the hours he or she worked is the only evidence that can be presented to support an overtime claim? Is this enough?

The answer is "yes," at least according to a recent decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which covers Kentucky, in Moran v Al Basit LLC (June 1, 2015). 

Keep in mind that this doesn't mean that the employee will always win the case where the only evidence they can submit in support of their overtime claim is their own testimony: a jury may not choose to believe them or may only accept their testimony in part. But if fully credited an individual's testimony alone that he or she worked the claimed overtime hours is enough to prove the claim.

Lexington, Kentucky overtime lawyer Robert Abell represents individuals and employees in recovering the wages and overtime they've earned but not been paid; contact him at 859-254-7076.