Oil and Gas Industry Seeks to Fill Positions – Proper Pay Would Help Fill “In-Demand” Jobs

Rigzone, an online source for energy jobs and industry news, recently released its “Most Wanted” list of in-demand jobs. With over 3,000 positions open within oil and gas companies in North America, engineering, equipment operator, and technician positions are among the most difficult to fill jobs in the energy sector. According to Rigzone, the top 10 most in-demand energy jobs, starting with the most difficult to fill, are:

1. Mechanical engineer
2. Field service technician
3. Production operator
4. Maintenance technician
5. Heavy machinery operator
6. Mechanic
7. Petroleum engineer
8. Geologist
9. Quality assurance/quality control inspector
10. Electrical engineer

“Hiring managers in the oil and gas industry are scouring North America far and wide for skilled candidates. The challenge? Other industries are vying to attract the same talent,” said Paul Caplan, President of Rigzone. “As in any good battle, the victory goes to whoever not only fights the hardest, but uses a myriad of tactics in order to come out on top. It’s up to oil and gas companies to offer enviable benefits — whether that’s outsized salaries or flexible work hours — to win out over competing sectors.” Are You Receiving the Overtime Owed to You? Of the listed jobs, the following are often paid on a day rate (and entitled to overtime pay):

• Field service technician
• Production operator
• Maintenance technician
• Heavy machinery operator
• Mechanic
• Quality assurance/quality control inspector

Day rate employees are paid a flat rate for each day worked, regardless of the number of hours they put in during each day. However, employers are still required by law to pay most onshore and offshore day rate employees overtime for all hours worked in a week over 40. Unfortunately, this overtime pay is not always received by those it’s owed to. Just last year, a New Mexico-based geological company was required to compensate over 100 current and former mud loggers for violations of the minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. This is only one example of the many recent claims that have been brought to recover millions of dollars in unpaid back wages for oilfield and energy workers. “These mud logging technicians worked 24-hour shifts, often up to 100 hours in a workweek, performing physically and mentally demanding work. They were denied the basic minimum wage and overtime pay guaranteed them by law for their hard work,” said the regional administrator for the Wage and Hour Division in the Southwest. “These violations reflect one of the problems we’ve found in the oil and gas extraction industry—employees are improperly classified as exempt from the FLSA and are not paid the proper wages, in accordance with federal law.” If you’re an employee within the oil and gas industry and believe you are not receiving the overtime pay that is rightfully yours, contact the experts at The Lore Law Firm for a fast and free case evaluation.