Were You Paid Everything the Law Requires?
Overtime miscalculations, misclassification, and unpaid wages affect workers across every industry and pay structure. Josephson Dunlap handles these cases nationwide. If something doesn't add up on your paycheck, it's worth finding out why. We can help.
Mining Workers and Unpaid Overtime
What the Law Requires
You work long shifts in demanding, and sometimes dangerous conditions. Federal law is clear about how every one of those hours must be paid. When your employer gets it wrong, the money comes out of your pocket. Not paying workers the money they are entitled to is illegal. Find out if you could be owed or if you could be missing money from your paycheck.
How to get started
Getting started is quick and easy. Call us or submit your information online and a case manager will reach out within 24 hours. There's no obligation, and everything we discuss during our initial consultation is strictly confidential.
There is no cost for your case review. If Josephson Dunlap takes your case, there is no fee unless wages are recovered on your behalf. You don't pay anything to find out if you could be owed.
Need A Faster Response?
Call 888-992-2990 or contact us online right now by clicking the button below to request a free consultation with one of our team members. Hablamos español.
Do Mining Workers Qualify for Overtime?
Most do. Federal law covers the majority of mining workers. Drill operators, blasters, haul truck drivers, equipment techs, underground miners, surface workers, and support staff are all generally entitled to overtime pay.
Some mining companies label workers as exempt, as contractors, or as high-paid day rate workers to avoid paying overtime. Those labels do not automatically hold up under the law. What matters is how the work actually runs, how the pay is set up, and whether the company actually meets the legal requirements to skip overtime.
Most do not. The violations are rarely obvious. They show up in how bonuses are handled, how the overtime rate gets calculated, and whether time before and after the shift gets recorded at all.
Facts About the Mining Industry and Its Workers
- Most mining workers are entitled to overtime at one and a half times their regular rate for every hour past 40 in a workweek
- Production bonuses, hazard pay, and shift differentials must be included when calculating overtime pay
- Required safety meetings and equipment checks before your shift are generally paid work time under federal law
- Time spent traveling from the mine portal to the work face may be paid time
- Day rate workers in mining are entitled to overtime in most cases, no matter how high the daily rate is
- Misclassifying workers as independent contractors is common in contract mining and could mean you are owed years of back pay
Types of Unpaid Wage Claims We Handle
We handle the full spectrum of wage and hour violations under federal and state law, with particular expertise in:
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Employee Misclassification
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Expense Reimbursement
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Untimely Wage Payment
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Meal and Rest Break Violations
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Employer Tip Theft
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Minimum Wage Violations
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Off-the-clock Work
How Bonuses and Hazard Pay Can Affect Your Overtime
This is where most employers in the mining industry get it wrong. It is also the issue that affects the most workers in the industry.
Federal law requires that certain extra pay be included when calculating your overtime rate. Production bonuses are one of the clearest examples. When a mining company pays a bonus based on tons moved, footage drilled, or shifts completed, that bonus must be factored into your overtime rate for that pay period. The same goes for hazard pay and shift differentials for underground work, night shifts, or similar conditions.
When the company calculates overtime using only your base hourly or day rate and leaves your bonus out, you're being paid incorrectly for every single overtime hour for that week of work.
Here is what that looks like with real numbers. A drill operator earns $28 per hour and receives a $500 production bonus in a week when he works 54 hours.
Step 1: Straight-time earnings - $28 x 54 hours = $1,512
Step 2: Add the bonus - $1,512 + $500 = $2,012
Step 3: True regular rate - $2,012 divided by 54 hours = $37.26 per hour
Step 4: Correct overtime rate - $37.26 x 1.5 = $55.89 per hour
Step 5: What the employer paid - $28 x 1.5 = $42 per hour (THIS LEAVES YOUR BONUS OUT AND IS ILLEGAL!)
Step 6: Gap per overtime hour - $13.89
Step 7: Weekly underpayment - 14 overtime hours x $13.89 = $194.46
Most workers in this situation put in overtime more than just 20 weeks a year. However, even at just 20 weeks, which isn't even half the year, the unpaid amount already exceeds $3,800. The longer this happens, the more you could be missing out on.
What This Means In Real Life
Think about a haul truck driver withing the mine, working 12-hour rotating shifts and regularly puts in 54 to 60 hours a week. His base pay is $26 per hour. He gets production bonuses most months and a hazard differential certain months.
The company says his hourly rate is $26, which means bonuses and differential never go into the math. On a 56-hour week with a $400 production bonus, the true regular rate is closer to $33 per hour. The overtime owed on those 16 hours should reflect that rate, not $26.
Over two years, those weekly gaps add up to a significant amount. But since nothing on the pay stub says the calculations are wrong, and nothing on the check says they are missing overtime, the worker never knows. That's a problem.
Common Wage Violations in Mining
- Day Rate Workers: Day rate pay is common in mining, especially in contract work and specialty roles. Drill operators, blasters, and certain equipment techs are often paid a flat daily rate no matter how many hours the shift runs. Being paid a day rate does not eliminate the right to overtime. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court settled a major question about this. In Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, the Court ruled that a high-earning oil rig worker paid on a day rate was still owed overtime. That ruling applies directly to mining workers in the same situation. A full step-by-step breakdown of how day rate overtime is calculated is on the Day Rate Workers page.
- Independent Contractors: Contract mining operations often use independent contractor setups for drilling crews, blasting teams, and specialty equipment operators. Federal law does not look at the label in the contract. It looks at how the work actually runs. A worker who takes direction from a mine supervisor, uses company equipment, works a schedule the company sets, and does work that is central to the mine's operation looks like an employee under federal law. Workers who were wrongly labeled as contractors may be owed years of overtime they never received. The two most important questions are how much control the company had over the work, and whether the worker depended on that one company for most of their income. A full breakdown of how this is evaluated is on the Employee Misclassification page.
Ready To Get Started?
Call 888-992-2990 or contact us online by clicking the button below to request a free consultation with one of our team members. Hablamos español.
Hidden Work Time: What the Clock Misses
Pre-Shift Time: Safety Meetings and Equipment Checks
Many mining operations require workers to attend a safety meeting before each shift. Others require equipment inspections or tool checks before the official start time. That time is work, and it must be paid.
Federal law is clear on this. Time spent on activities that are required by the employer and directly tied to the job must be paid for. A safety briefing your employer requires before production starts is not optional. It is part of the job. Required equipment inspections work the same way.
When that time is not recorded and not paid, it is unpaid work time. Even 15 minutes per shift adds up fast over a full year. Think about what your employer requires before your official clock-in. Anything the company mandates as part of the job is likely compensable time.
Portal-to-Portal Travel Time
Underground mining has a time issue that surface workers don't face. Getting from the mine entrance to the actual work face takes time. Depending on the size and depth of the mine, that travel can run 20, 30, or 45 minutes each way. The general rule under federal law is that regular commute time is not paid work time. But there are exceptions. Travel that happens after the first work task of the day has started is generally paid time.
When miners are required to carry tools underground, or when underground travel is considered part of the work process, the paid time question becomes part of the time that is paid. Several courts have said that underground travel time needs to be paid when the employer required workers to perform tasks during that travel or when the travel was mandatory for the work.
This depends on the specific facts of your situation. But for miners spending time traveling to and from the work face every shift, it is worth knowing whether that time should have been on the clock.
MICHAEL JOSEPHSON
ANDREW DUNLAP
RICHARD SCHREIBER
OLIVIA BEALE
ALYSSA WHITE
JULIA CLINE
SCOTT STOTTLEMYRE
Unpaid overtime Lawyers Fighting for Workers Nationwide
With more than two decades of experience, our unpaid wage attorneys have helped workers throughout the U.S. stand up to employers who would seek to cheat them out of fair wages.
Josephson Dunlap handles unpaid wage and overtime cases for workers across every pay structure, including:
We handle claims involving a wide range of violations, including:
- Employee Misclassification
- Meal & Rest Break Violations
- Delayed or Untimely Wages
- Off-the-Clock Work
Josephson Dunlap handles these cases exclusively. That focus means we know this area of law in detail and have the staff and resources to pursue claims of any size. Whether its an individual worker or a nationwide class action, we have the expertise to recover what is rightfully owed. We have helped more than 100,000 workers recover wages across all 50 states.
Why Clients Trust Us
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Frequently Asked Questions About Unpaid Overtime
Yes. Production bonuses must be included in your regular rate of pay before overtime is calculated. When your employer pays a bonus during a week you worked overtime but does not adjust the overtime rate, every overtime hour that week was underpaid. This is one of the most common violations in mining.
No. The U.S. Supreme Court addressed this directly in 2023. A high day rate alone does not exempt a worker from overtime. To qualify for that exemption, the base pay must be a guaranteed weekly salary. A day rate does not meet that requirement, no matter how high it is.
In most cases, yes. Required safety briefings are generally considered part of the job and must be compensated. The same goes for mandatory equipment inspections. Time your employer requires you to spend before production starts is generally work time under federal law.
It depends. Underground travel is compensable in certain situations, particularly when workers carry tools or perform tasks during travel, or when the travel cannot be separated from the work itself. A case review can help determine whether your travel time should have been paid.
The label in your contract does not decide the outcome. Federal law looks at how the job actually worked. Workers who took direction from a supervisor, used company equipment, worked set schedules, and did the core work of the operation may be legally classified as employees regardless of what the contract said.
In most cases, two years. Intentional violations extend that to three years. Some states allow longer periods under state law. The sooner a claim is reviewed, the more of that window can be used.
No. Federal wage law applies based on the employment relationship, not on who owns the mine. Workers employed by a mining contractor are generally entitled to the same overtime protections as anyone else.
What Our Clients Are Saying
My experience with Josephson Dunlap was great. The team took on my lost wage case and not only represented me but also advocated for me {...} I highly and strongly recommend this firm thanks again to the team.
They were great and very easy to work with. Accommodated with my work schedule even when my schedule changed, no problem. They made the process so easy and we came out with a great outcome!
I emailed in with a question and received an immediate response from a supervisor.... On a Saturday! Yvonne was so courteous and helpful and followed up on my issue after the weekend. I truly appreciated the customer service that was provided!
The entire staff has been great handling the case from start to finish. They have kept me notified of changes and announcements along the way. Would recommend using them if you find yourself needing legal guidance
I'd like to give my appreciation and gratitude to Josephson Dunlap Law Firm. {...} Thank you for all that your law firm does for the labors of America. I would have never known about my unpaid time if it wasn't for Josephson Dunlap Law Firm and Samantha Avila.
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