Every employee deserves to be paid at least a minimum wage. Also, they must be paid for all the hours they have worked including overtime. Employers who fail to do this must be held accountable. A skilled employment attorney can defend the rights of workers, including those who have unpaid overtime. They will figure out if your employer violated the law and explain your options for financial recovery. They will aggressively pursue the monetary compensation you are entitled to. If you are not sure if you can recover wages, your attorney can evaluate your situation and help you understand the options to get the overtime pay you need.
Many areas of employment or wage laws can be misunderstood or exploited. Because of this, some employees end up missing out on earned pay. Below are some situations where employees can be deprived of their wages or overtime pay:
Misclassification
Some employees, like salaried workers who make a particular amount of money every week, aren’t entitled to overtime pay. However, a lot of hourly workers who must get overtime are misclassified as salaried workers or exempt from overtime pay. Such misclassification may be accidental. But no matter the intent of the employer, this mistake can lead to significant wage loss for a worker who has worked overtime.
In addition, workers who need to be compensated as a worker are recruited as independent contractors. Misclassification of an hourly worker as an independent contractor causes the worker to lose overtime pay. Employers can save money by labeling a worker as an independent contractor because they don’t pay taxes for them. Additionally, workers’ compensation insurance does not cover independent contractors.
Uncounted or Miscounted Overtime
Employers may not count overtime that is due. For instance, a manager may not want to pay a worker since they didn’t ask the latter to work overtime.
Also, an employee loses overtime pay if their hours are unlawfully averaged over a pay period of two weeks. The law states that overtime must be counted every week. But some employers do otherwise.
Employers Do Not Pay for a Worker’s Working Time
Usually, employers do not pay for a worker’s total work time. This can happen due to a simple misunderstanding or can be intentional. No matter the case, employees must understand when the work they do qualify for pay. In general, every time an hourly employee does something for their employer’s benefit, it’s working time that must be compensated.
