Wage and hour claims don’t always involve an employer failing to pay you for an entire day or week of work. Often, employers fail to pay people for minutes or hours. When this happens day after day, it can soon become a considerable amount of money owed to employees. That is why employers do it – making small savings across the workforce soon amounts to a massive wage saving, especially if it carries on for several years.
Here are some of the ways employers may cheat workers out of wages.
Failing to pay the minimum wage
The minimum wage is not static. When it changes, employers must increase their wages on the appropriate date. Failing to update minimum wage rates can result in substantial unpaid wages.
Failing to pay overtime at the proper rate
Overtime is paid at time and a half. So, if an employer lets you go two hours early on Friday to compensate for keeping you two hours late on Tuesday, they might still owe you an hour of pay. If the extra two hours on Tuesday took you into overtime territory, they should compensate you with three hours.
Promoting you to manager
You may appreciate the title, but if you do not get more responsibility, it could be that your employer only promoted you to save money. Managers are not entitled to overtime in many situations where regular employees are.
Cutting your breaks
Check your state’s laws to see how much time your employer should give you for rest breaks and meals. If they repeatedly fail to let you go for an uninterrupted break on time or always make you return earlier, you may be a victim of wage theft.
If your employer is not paying you everything they should, they are likely doing the same to others. A wage and hour class action might be the way to ensure that everyone affected gets the compensation they deserve.