Wage and Hour

By Randy Estes, October 5, 2026 We hear this question a lot. Workers know their checks are short. They know they’re putting in fifty or sixty hours and getting paid for forty, or getting straight time when they should be getting time-and-a-half. But they don’t say anything, because they’re afraid that speaking up will cost them the job. The fear…Read More

By Randy Estes, September 17, 2026 It’s one of the most common things we hear from Louisiana workers: “I’m on a salary, so I don’t get overtime.” Employers say it so often that most people take it as fact. It isn’t. Being paid a salary is only one small piece of whether you’re actually exempt from overtime — and even…Read More

By Randy Estes, September 13, 2026 You work 12-hour shifts, sometimes 14 or 21 days straight. You drive hours to location, sleep in a man camp or a motel, and go weeks without seeing your family. Your check shows a day rate, a “salary,” or maybe you’re issued a 1099 – but you never time-and-a-half. Ask about overtime and someone…Read More

By Dan Davis, September 3, 2026 You earned the tips. But at the end of the night a chunk gets funneled to the manager, or the owner keeps the credit-card tips, or you are told to “tip out” the kitchen even though you are only paid a few dollars an hour. If any of that sounds familiar, your employer may…Read More

By Dan Davis, September 3, 2026 You show up when they tell you to, use their tools, and work only for them – but at tax time you get a 1099 instead of a W-2, and you have never seen an overtime check. A lot of Louisiana construction, oilfield, warehouse, and delivery workers are in exactly this spot. Being called…Read More

By Dan Davis, August 28, 2026 You worked the hours. The overtime never showed up on your check. Now you’re wondering who actually has to pay you back — especially if the company is small, always “broke,” or looks like it might close its doors before you ever see a dime. The good news is that federal law casts a…Read More

By Dan Davis, August 19, 2026 Almost every Louisiana worker has done it. You clock out and then finish closing. You answer your supervisor’s texts from the couch. You stay late to wrap up a job because leaving it half-done makes tomorrow worse. Nobody told you to record that time. The answer is yes — that time is generally supposed…Read More

By Dan Davis, August 14, 2026If you work irregular, unpredictable hours — long weeks, short weeks, whatever the job demands — but your paycheck is the same fixed amount every week, your employer may be using something called a "Belo plan." Belo plans are common in Louisiana's oilfield and field-service industries, and among on-call technicians, adjusters, and other workers whose…Read More

By Dan Davis, July 29, 2026 If you drive to job sites for work, start your day with calls from home, or split your time between home and an office, you may wonder whether the hours you spend traveling are supposed to be on the clock. On July 22, 2026, the U.S. Department of Labor weighed in with two new…Read More

By Dan Davis, July 22, 2026 Plenty of Louisiana workers eat lunch at their desk, answer the phone during a “break,” or get called back to the floor before their thirty minutes are up — and never stop to ask whether that time should be paid. Federal law has clear rules about when a meal break can go unpaid, and…Read More