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THERE ARE MANY
COMMON
VIOLATIONS OR
SCAMS
BY WHICH EMPLOYERS DENY WAGES
AND/OR
OVERTIME TO THEIR EMPLOYEES
Many employers require employees to show up early (before
the shift starts) to “get things ready”
or “attend a meeting,” or to stay late
for some work-related purpose, and don’t
pay the employees for this time.
May employers illegally deduct pay for “down time” during
the shift. For instance, in a call
center, employees might be told, “You
only get paid when you’re on the phone,”
and have time deducted from their pay
when there is an equipment malfunction.
Or in a factory, time might be deducted
from a worker’s pay while a machine is
down. The U.S. Supreme court has ruled
that employees must be paid for all time
“during the continuous workday.”
Many employers illegally avoid overtime requirements by
paying a “salary” to employees who are
not legally exempt from overtime
requirements. For instance, not
everyone with a college degree is exempt
from the overtime requirements and not
everyone who is called a supervisor or
manager is exempt.
Many employers deduct missed hours from an employee’s
“salary,” but do not pay overtime when
the employee works over 40 hours a week,
Many employers illegally avoid overtime (and even minimum
wage) requirements by paying “commission
only.”
Many employers require employees to perform work-related
tasks during lunch but don’t pay them
for the lunch period.
Many employers don’t include bonuses and shift
differentials in the regular hourly rate
before calculating overtime. For
instance, if an employee is paid $8.00
an hour, and $2.00 extra per hour for
meeting attendance goals (or as a night
shift differential), then the proper
overtime rate is $15.00 an hour, but
many employers would calculate the
overtime rate at $12.00 an hour.
Many employers improperly avoid overtime requirements by
averaging hours over a two-week period.
For instance, if an employee works 50
hours in one week, and 30 hours in the
next week, the employee is entitled to
the overtime rate for 10 hours worked
during the first week. But many
employers incorrectly pay straight time
for all of the hours, since they didn’t
exceed 80 in the two-week period.
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If so, your
employer is likely violating
the Federal wage and hour
laws, and likely
owes you unpaid back wages
and/or overtime.
There are
numerous other
ways in which employers
violate the Federal and
State wage and hour laws.
If
you feel you have not been
paid proper wages and/or
overtime,
please
contact us for a
free
consultation
or call us toll free at
1-888-MYWAGE-2. |
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