Wage theft is a persistent and widespread problem in the U.S. One way employers illegally withhold employees’ pay is by incorrectly claiming that they aren’t entitled to overtime protections. In this article, we’ll look at how employees are hitting back against two large employers who they say have sought to control labor costs by systematically misclassifying their workers.
Both federal law and many state laws require employers to pay an overtime rate of 1.5 times employees’ regular wages for hours worked in excess of a 40-hour work week. Not all workers are entitled to these protections, however. Among those exempt from overtime protections are employees who work in an executive, administrative, professional roles and earn a specified minimum salary as well as outside sales employees. In 2025, this minimum is $684 per week under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and $844 per week under New Jersey’s wage and hour laws.
In recent years, many employers have sought to get around the overtime pay requirement by classifying more employees as “managers,” even if the majority of their job duties are not executive, administrative, or professional in nature. To qualify as an exempt employees, workers must not only meet salary thresholds but also spend at least half their time performing administrative, executive, or professional duties.
One academic study found that job listings for salaried positions with managerial titles are nearly five times as common around the federal pay threshold, although many of these positions are otherwise equivalent to non-managerial roles and have titles like “Director of First Impression,” although they may simply refer to front desk assistants. The study estimates that businesses avoid an average of 13.5% of overtime costs for employees who are misclassified in this way.
Recently, both Target and Dollar General stores have been hit with lawsuits by employees who claim these employers have illegally withheld overtime pay to which they’re entitled.
Plaintiffs in multiple states who had worked under the job title, “executive team leader” filed a class action suit against Target, alleging that they are entitled to overtime that their employer refuses to pay. The current and former employees allege that they regularly work more than 47 hours per week and that more than half their time is spent performing non-managerial work such as unloading trucks, unpacking merchandise, filling online orders, stocking shelves, providing customer service, and staffing cash registers. Additionally, the suit claims that Target further cuts labor costs by sending workers who are paid by the hour home early and declining to replace hourly workers who are absent, instead requiring salaried executive team leaders to pick up the slack, further adding to their hours and labor without providing additional pay.
Two New Jersey Dollar General employees are seeking relief for themselves and similarly situated employees, who they claim were intentionally misclassified as executive, administrative, professional, or outside sales workers. The plaintiffs claim that they work approximately 60 hours per week, most of which is spent on non-managerial tasks. This suit was brought under New Jersey state law, which allows for collection of up to six years of unpaid back wages. The FLSA, by contrast, has a two-year statute of limitations in most cases and a three-year limitation in cases where the court finds an employer has willfully violated the statute.
Mark | Lavigne Senior Associate Edward Herban is representing the Dollar General employees. He says that the plaintiffs are each seeking “tens of thousands of dollars” in wages that they claim have been illegally withheld. Describing his clients’ situation, Herban explains, "Even though you do the managerial stuff, that is only like 20 minutes or an hour a day. The rest of your day is unloading trucks, cleaning bathrooms, stocking shelves—something that a clerk would ordinarily do. You're not really a manager, right? The employer typically does that in order to save on wages."
Unfortunately, these two cases are far from unusual. Wage theft affects millions of U.S. workers every year. If you believe your employer has misclassified your work to get around overtime pay or committed other wage and hour violations like requiring or encouraging you to work off the clock, making illegal deductions from your paycheck, paying less than the minimum wage, or taking a share of your tips, it’s important for you to stand up for your rights. Reach out to an experienced employment law attorney to discuss your case and determine the best course of action to recover the compensation you deserve.