Field Service Technician Overtime

Sifting through company rules on overtime compensation is a sticky situation in which many field service technicians find themselves stuck.

In an industry where hands-on, on-call services are the expectation — not the exception — it comes as little surprise these individuals rarely operate on a neat nine-to-five. What’s more, a routine 40-hour workweek is hard to follow when the nature of your job involves on-the-go travels, emergency repairs and unexpected system troubleshooting.

Unfortunately, who is exempt from overtime pay, who isn’t and why are questions many companies make notoriously tricky for field service technicians to answer. Yet unpaid overtime is a serious legal violation — one you might be entitled to take action against if you find yourself high-and-dry, questioning your rights amidst field service labor laws.

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Can a Company Ignore Field Service Technician Claims and Not Pay Overtime?

Due to the nature of a service engineer or technician’s work, service labor laws prohibit companies from withholding overtime pay in the vast majority of cases where technicians have worked above their prescripted 40-hour workweek. However, many technicians in the industry are not informed of their rights within fair labor standards and may have even been led to believe they cannot receive FSE overtime pay.

Under the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division mandates, non-except technicians must be compensated for their overtime labor. Even if service technicians are salaried, the Department of Labor’s legal standards still dictate rules on minimum wage and overtime pay for this particular industry.

When Can a Company Not Pay Overtime?

Technicians and engineers are typically employed in fields where technical equipment or systems require on-site, specialized installation, troubleshooting and machine management. These machines are essential to the businesses they serve. Therefore, the machine manufacturers and distributors hire field service technicians and engineers to travel to customers and directly handle machine claims — from repairs to system updates to new machine-handling training.

Industries where this kind of hands-on, on-site equipment work is most prevalent include healthcare, telecommunications, power and energy, environmental sectors, construction, and network, data or computer-based centers.

Because the work of a field-service technician is not managerial and not of specialized intellectual study, and because the Department of Labor does not legally qualify it as executive, administrative, advanced-degree professional or outside sales, then Field Service Engineers (FSEs) and Customer Service Engineers (CSEs) are eligible for overtime pay. Negligence of or refusal to pay overtime can, indeed, result in legal accountability.

When Are Field Service Technicians and Engineers Exempt From Overtime Pay?

In short, the vast majority of field service technicians and engineers are not exempt from overtime pay.

This means any hours worked exceeding the 40 of a consigned workweek will classify as overtime, with field service technicians eligible for compensation at a rate of time-and-a-half their regular hourly wage. More in-depth field service labor laws distinguish further between exempt and non-exempt technicians, but the standing interpretation in Pennsylvania and beyond remains FSEs and CSEs are very much entitled to overtime pay.

The One Exception — Learned Professional Employees

To be considered overtime-exempt, a field service employee must fall into what’s called a learned professional employee exception. All four of the following criteria must be present for someone to be categorized in the eyes of the law as a learned professional:

1. The employee’s weekly earnings cannot be lower than $455 a week, whether salaried or hourly.
2. The employees primary, day-to-day tasks must be intellectual in nature, with most functions relying on autonomous judgment calls and higher-level decision making.
3. The employee’s knowledge must be based in the fields of the sciences, learning or higher education.
4. The employee’s professional background must have been shaped by extensive or prolonged intellectual instruction, usually meaning an advanced degree such as a master’s or a doctorate.

Why Field Service Technicians and Engineers Almost Always Qualify for Overtime

Following the Department of Labor’s own four guidelines above, we see that the typical field service engineer does not fit the “learned professional employee” classification:

1. Field service technician salaries range depending on a number of factors. Like most jobs, pay rates vary based on experience, education, geography, technical skillsets, certifications, equipment specialization and more, making it difficult to assign a unified price on hourly or salary work.
2. Field service technicians perform predominantly hands-on, customer-facing work that includes prescriptive installations, maintenance, troubleshooting and repairs. What’s more, a field engineer is typically not in a management position and does not delegate or design the work itself, which many fair-labor standards use as the definition behind “higher-level decision making.”
3. Field service technicians generally do not qualify with backgrounds in the advanced sciences, learning or higher education fields, though some may due to a career change.

4. Most field service technicians enter the industry with an associate’s degree or simply an interest in mechanics or electronic repairs. It is highly unusual to hold a master’s or doctorate degree, and in most cases would be unnecessary.

Note that none of this means service technicians are unskilled or lower-level careers. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The fundamental job of a field service technic relies on technical acumen and mechanical expertise far beyond an ordinary person’s comprehension, not to mention training in mathematics, electronics, hydraulics, welding, pneumatic design, computer engineering and more. It is hardly a career anyone can “jump into.”

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So What’s the Confusion? Service Technicians With Misclassified Job Titles

Even amidst the Department of Labor’s Wage own Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and numerous letters on its part that uphold overtime pay for field service technicians, confusion still exists.

This could be in part because a technician is unaware or under-informed of the legal classification of their work. It could also be due to misunderstandings between the expectations versus actual roles of a technician, which leads a company to mischaracterize the nature of a technician’s responsibilities and therefore not pay them overtime, albeit innocently.

The worst-case scenario, however, is a company purposefully misleading their technicians into thinking they are not allowed overtime even if they put in more than 40 hours a week. FSE payment is, in fact, well established and clearly outlined for both salaried and hourly field service engineers overtime pay.

1. OvertimePay for Salaried Service Technicians

Salaried field engineers and technicians often experience the most confusion when it comes to the nature of overtime work. Because of their salary contracts, they might consider themselves out of the running for overtime compensation even if they’re consistently working over 40 hours a week, on weekends or after hours from home.

Salaried service technicians are non-except from overtime and should be paid accordingly. Overtime payments can come either as flat overtime rates or as hourly valuations prorated from their salary equivalent.

Overtime pay confusion for salaried technicians may be a result of:

• Salaried technical service technicians who frequently travel during the week — if not every day — with service sites ranging from across counties to across countries.
• Salaried technical service technicians who work with hyper-specialized products or machines types, or whose work is less manually intensive, causing employers to qualify the job as intellectual in nature.
• Salaried technical service technicians who might have agreed to a salary versus an hourly wage and therefore don’t understand their overtime rights or payment structures.

2. Overtime Pay for Hourly Service Technicians

Hourly paid technical engineers may see a more intuitive case when asking for overtime compensation. But like their salaried counterparts, hourly rates are classified as the same form of non-exempt technician work in the eyes of the Department of Labor. They are just as viable as those with salaries to document perceived excess work and inquire about time-and-a-half.

Hourly service technicians may experience overtime payment tension when:

• Employers attempt to nickel-and-dime their hours.
• Employers do not pay during lunch or breaks, even legally mandated ones.
• Employers don’t account for “on call” hours or work done from home when it comes time to calculate paychecks.

In total, it’s crucial for an FSE or CSE to meticulously log worked hours and caseloads, then approach appropriate management about overtime compensation. Your job title, experience or pay structure should have little to do in withholding overtime pay.

Reasons Why Employers Misclassify Jobs as Technicians or Engineers

There are a few reasons why companies may misjudge or misunderstand the legal classification of a field service engineer. And while these are relatively commonplace within the industry, they should not dictate if a company pays overtime or not to its technicians:

1. Role Misalignment

The most common misclassification haunting overtime pay discrimination tends to occur when employers misapply the nature of a technician’s job with FLSA mandates. In other words, whether intentional or not, they perceive the role of a service technician as one that does act autonomously, performing managerial or administrative activities and making higher-level decisions.

Many times when field service engineers attempt to negotiate unpaid overtime, they are told their roles and responsibilities place them as exempt. It can be a confusing and stressful situation without clear resources to turn to.

If this has happened to you or someone you know, consider consulting with an employment law attorney in your area. These lawyers can review the terms of a contract and conduct exact assessments on the nature of your professional role, then apply FLSA and Department of Labor interpretations to see if you have been misclassified.

2. Travel Time

Many CSEs or FSEs wonder early on if traveling is considered part of their job or counted off the clock. This may even be a critical factor in a career move as field service technician but one you might have been afraid to ask or negotiate.

Unfortunately, whether travel time is compensable is a very tricky area of the law, and will depend on factors such as whether the travel occurs during a normal work day and whether the travel is from your home to a worksite or between worksites. If you feel you are owed wages for travel time, you may want to consult with an attorney.

3. Independent Contractors

Finally, many professionals wonder the differences between an employee and an independent contractor. So much so, in fact, that sometimes a business can even misclassify the two — perhaps to their advantage.

Most service technicians are full-time or part-time employees, hired by a company to install, repair and assist in the mechanical functions of their brand’s equipment. Employees are entitled to benefits, vacation, fair labor standards and, yes, overtime pay.

However, short-term projects, seasonal work or variable industries might look to rely on similarly variable workers. Enter independent contractors, who have different rights and protections than full-time employees. Under the eyes of the law, independent contractors are not owed benefits, are not reimbursed for work-related costs and do not get taxes automatically deducted from their paychecks.

The misclassification of an employee as an independent contractor can save an employer serious money, yet if caught, spells serious legal trouble.

Court Rulings in Favor of CSE and FSE Overtime Classification

There is legal precedent if you or someone you know may not be receiving the overtime pay they deserve for their field technician work. These cases can not only inform your own overtime pay course of action but can help guide more knowledgeable discussions and negotiations with your employer.

A few landmark cases concerning the CSE and FSE industry in particular are named below.

• IBP, Inc. v. Alvarez, 2005: A major class-action case that made its way to the Supreme Court, plaintiffs from Iowa Beef Processors, Inc. filed for unpaid wages reparations, citing they weren’t being paid for the time it took to put on and take off safety gear. The Supreme Court ruled in their favor, unanimously agreeing that donning safety gear was a “principal activity” related to the job, and therefore needed to be compensated.

• Stevens v. Brink’s Home Security, Inc, 2007: The Washington state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, a group of technicians for a home-security and alarm firm. The plaintiffs petitioned to have their commutes from their own homes to and from job-sites, in company vans, count as part of their compensated workday, to which the Court agreed. The Court stated that company vans count as “prescribed workplaces” and that while operating them, the plaintiffs were following company procedures and therefore on-duty and on-the-clock.

• Halle v. Galliano Marine Service, 2017: Under the FLSA, marine and maritime workers are exempt from overtime pay if their roles directly contribute to the navigation and transportation of a boat or ship. In Halle v. Galliano Marine Service, the plaintiff successfully argued that as a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) technician assigned to an ROV support vessel, he was entitled to overtime given the non-transportation nature of his work. Though the plaintiff in Hall v. Galliano Marine Service was not a traditional field service technician, this case highlights how important role descriptions and misclassifications are to overtime compensation, and how important it is for technicians and engineers of any kind to understand their domains.

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Other Fields With Common Overtime Pay Discrimination

Are there other jobs similar to FSE and CSE professionals that are also denied overtime? The answer, unfortunately, is yes.

Whether it’s misclassifying their employees, wrongly calculating pay or more commonly, inventing deceitful timekeeping or work-hour tracking systems, certain careers tend to see higher rates of overtime pay discrimination. These same careers are ones with high field deployment rates, meaning employees do not spend the majority of their time within a designated company or business headquarters. High field operations can allow employers to apply tactics to underpay their workers more easily.

1. Homecare and Home Nurses

Like field service technicians and engineers, nearly all homecare nurses are non-exempt from minimum wage and overtime payment. Their employers — whether a home nursing staffing agency or an individual direct hire — must comply with time-and-a-half overtime pay for any workweeks that exceed 40 hours. There is only one minor exception to overtime pay for homecare nurses, and that is if the nurse performs no medically related activities and spends less than a quarter of their shift on personal care or household chores.

2. Oil and Gas Workers

Misclassification of oil and gas workers is not unheard of. The industry itself has a number of worker classifications and types, and it can be as simple as adjusting on-call hours or omitting certain performed roles that switches an oil worker from one classification to another. Even salaried oil and gas workers or those living on rigs are likely entitled to overtime compensation.

3. Plumbers, HVAC Technicians and Others in the Trade Service Industry

Plumbers, electricians, HVAC professionals and others in the trade services can experience overtime pay discrimination due to similar manipulations felt by technicians. Employers might employ tactics to discount travel times between job sites, set up workplace activity rules that negate hours or misclassify the work of certain types of trade employees altogether. What’s more, like field service technicians, these professionals are often called to emergency situations outside of a “normal” nine-to-five. It can make for a frustrating position, but one that under FLSA labor laws are very much entitled to earn overtime.

What Can I Do If I Feel I’ve Been Denied Overtime Pay?

Overtime pay for salaried employees and hourly field service engineers should be the standard practice within a company — not something you have to fight to earn. Companies that violate wage overtime laws can face repercussions for their negligence if found accountable under the eyes of the law.

If you’re weighing action to defend your worker’s rights and hold a company responsible, you’ll want to take measures to build your case. Consider these general steps if you’re a technician who feels that your company owes you overtime pay:

1. Start Recording Everything

Begin recording all workplace or professional activities, hours and work-related expenses, as well as the times and dates they occurred. In many overtime compensation disputes, a company will present their own recording of approved work hours — which could be redacted or edited versions to help their side. The best way to guard your claims and remain transparent is clear, detailed documentation on your part justifying your work.

2. Collect Evidence to Support Your Claim

Aside from your own written work documentation, begin collecting other evidence to complement your perspective. You might even consider asking other field service employees about their experiences with overtime compensation disagreements.

It is especially important for you to review your position classification and contract. While you certainly don’t need to be a legal expert and interpret every single word or clause, you do want to hold a familiar overview of its terms and language. This will be relevant for your next step as well.

3. Report a Job or Title Misclassification

If you note you’ve been classified as an independent contractor, freelance worker or on-call employee yet your day-to-day expectations and responsibilities clash with that title, report the misclassification to the IRS through an SS-8 form. SS-8 forms aim to settle classification disputes by determining the worker’s real status once and for all.

4. Consult an Employment Claims Lawyer

If you have indeed been misclassified, your next best step is to take legal action. Contact an employment law firm to discuss a consultation where you can review your records, contract and claims evidence to begin building your case.

Unpaid Overtime Claims for Field Service Technicians and Engineers

Industry loopholes and regulatory gray areas can muddle field service technician overtime pay and make you feel helpless. Yet you’re entitled to the pay you deserve for the work you’ve done. Don’t let anyone make you think otherwise.

If you feel you’ve been wrongfully categorized or fair labor standards have not been met, contact the committed team of employment lawyers at Weisberg Cummings, P.C., PC.

Schedule a completely free initial consultation at (855) 716-2315 or contact us online. We gladly represent clients in Harrisburg, Penn. and throughout the state, and we have relationships with law firms to handle cases nationwide.