Terminix International is one of the biggest pest control companies in the entire world. With a presence in almost every state in the country and in many countries around the world, the company employs over 8000 people and has staggering revenues that far exceed a billion dollars a year. Unfortunately, there is a growing possibility that the company has been cutting corners to achieve this level of success.
If you work for Terminix as a Pest Control Technician, you’re well aware that you are expected to very long hours. In fact, you likely work more than 40 hours per week on a regular basis. In the realm of wage and overtime rights, employees are generally entitled to overtime pay when it comes to hours worked beyond 40 hours in a work week. This is 1.5 times an employee’s regular rate of pay for each hour over eight hours in a workday, and double pay if an employee works beyond twelve hours in a day.
If this is the law, then why aren’t you seeing overtime pay reflected in your paycheck? This is an excellent question. The way Terminix justifies it, you are an “exempt” employee. This is a special classification that certain salaried employees can be given that allows an employer to skirt wage and overtime laws—including the minimum wage and overtime pay requirements. However, employers cannot just designate anyone as exempt. Instead, there are specific laws that the criteria to make such a classification, including looking carefully at the duties of the employee.
Under wage and overtime laws, it is presumed that employees are not exempt. Exempt employees are the exception to the rule. I mean, why even have laws if just anybody can be designated as exempt from these laws? This is the problem with the way Terminix is operating. Their classification of Technicians as exempt is dubious, especially given the hard, physical labor that you are required to perform on a day to day basis.
Because of this questionable classification as exempt, you probably see the same paycheck each month, regardless of whether you were made to work well beyond 40 hours each week. We believe that this exempt classification is a false one, and that you are probably getting ripped off. In essence, Terminix is saving a bunch of money it should be paying out, while you are being deprived of overtime pay.
You Need an Attorney
If you have worked as a Pest Control Technician for Terminix in the last three years, contact me. If Terminix has classified you as an exempt employee, it may be engaging in “wage theft” by not paying you overtime. Employment classifications have a high potential for employer abuse and courts take wage theft very seriously. At Moss Bollinger, we have years of experience in standing up for the rights of employees against big employers. We want to help fight for your rights. We work on a contingency basis, meaning we do not get paid unless you do. Contact Moss Bollinger today at (866) 535-2994 to schedule a free consultation or reach us online.