Texas: My employer will pay overdue overtime only if I sign a release — what can I recover?

Scenario

You leave a Texas job with unpaid hours and overtime. Your employer admits a balance but will pay only part if you sign a broad release covering wages, bonus and severance. You need to calculate earned pay and decide how to pursue it before signing.

What the law says

If you are covered and non-exempt, the FLSA generally requires overtime at 1.5 times your regular rate for hours over 40 in each workweek; salary alone does not establish an exemption. Earned pay must be assessed separately from extra severance. Accrued FLSA rights generally cannot be waived by an ordinary release. DOL-supervised payment and court-approved settlement are recognised routes; Fifth Circuit law governing Texas also permits some private settlements of genuine disputes over FLSA hours or compensation. A broad release alone does not establish that exception. Contract bonuses and Texas wage-payment duties require separate analysis.

What you can claim

For ordinary hourly pay, unpaid overtime = overtime hours × 1.5 × the regular rate, less overtime compensation already paid. If straight-time pay for those same hours was already paid, the missing premium is generally 0.5 × the regular rate × those hours. The regular rate can include nondiscretionary bonuses and other required remuneration; salaried non-exempt calculations need individual checking.

Add unpaid ordinary wages. For FLSA minimum-wage or overtime losses, litigation can also recover an equal amount in liquidated damages and attorney’s fees and costs, subject to legal defences and settlement rules. A contractual bonus is recoverable only if earned under its terms; federal law does not generally require severance. Do not double-count overlapping state and federal recovery.

What the employee can do

1. Make a week-by-week hours and regular-rate table. Keep time records, pay agreements, payslips, bonus terms, the employer’s acknowledgement and the release draft. Send payroll a written request for earned wages separate from the severance offer.

2. Before signing, ask a Texas employment lawyer to review the settlement and any asserted overtime exemption. Contact DOL’s Wage and Hour Division on 1-866-487-9243 for FLSA issues; for Texas unpaid-wage claims, file with the Texas Workforce Commission and supply dates, hours, rates and the amount due.

3. Texas final ordinary wages are generally due within six calendar days after discharge or on the next regular payday after resignation. File a Texas Payday Law claim within 180 days after each disputed wage payment was due. FLSA recovery generally has a two-year limit, or three years for willful violations; an agency enquiry or negotiations should not be assumed to stop the federal clock. Get advice on preserving both routes.

Common misconception, corrected

A release is not a universal answer to statutory wage rights. It also does not mean every payment labelled wages is covered by the FLSA or every private settlement is invalid everywhere.

Matching guides

Read Read a release before signing.

Read Check overtime coverage and exemption.

Read Check Texas final-pay timing.