Many employees in the industry are not only receiving wages that do not allow them to maintain financial stability, but they are often not being fairly compensated.

West Virginia's Homeland Security Office's inability to full staff its 24-hour emergency line has forced the state to cover surging overtime costs, according to a recent audit.

Although the city of Richmond, Virginia, just settled an employee lawsuit involving more than 600 current and former officers to the tune of $7 million, the department's payroll practices have once again come under fire as it faces a second suit.

Teachers in Baltimore are driving up costs for school departments as they file claims to recover overtime wages and leave pay upon retirement, according to The Baltimore Sun.

Minneapolis transit police are far outearning other officers in overtime pay, with five employees boosting their regular salaries by $30,000 annually.

The decisions in two recent cases have made it clear that Pennsylvania employers will not be allowed to calculate employees' overtime earnings based on fluctuating work weeks, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Employees of Farm Country, a grocery store in Brooklyn, New York, will receive approximately $9,000 each to settle a dispute regarding unpaid overtime, according to the New York Daily News.

There were approximately 303,900 property, real estate and community associate management positions in the United States in 2012, according to the Bureau of Labor Statics.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) set minimum wage at 38 cents when it was first established in 1938.