Wage and Hour Disputes

In addition to salary or hourly payments, workers may receive compensation in the form of benefits, reimbursements, bonuses, and stock options. The agreement between a worker and employer should clearly spell out the type of compensation the worker is to receive and the timeline for payment. However, not all workers have written contracts, and even when they do, they may not be adequately specific. This can result in many forms of employment disputes, such as:

• Wage and Hour Disputes: These disputes involve employees who have not been paid the correct hourly wage or have not been credited with the proper amount of time worked. Wage and hour issues can arise in many ways, like a technical glitch in timekeeping equipment, human error, or a malicious attempt to cut costs through illegal practices. Whatever the source of the dispute, employers must take steps to correct the unpaid wages.
• Overtime Disputes: Legally, some employees are exempt from overtime protections, meaning they are ineligible for overtime pay regardless of how many hours they work. However, many of the methods for categorizing exempt and non-exempt employees are vague. Employers tend to interpret any uncertainty in a manner that benefits their interests, resulting in non-exempt employees being denied overtime pay they rightfully earned.
• Minimum Wage Disputes: Employers may violate labor laws if they hire unpaid or low-paid “interns” and assign them entry-level job duties that would normally be performed by an employee. These workers may be entitled to the minimum wage and possibly overtime payments.

In addition to the above, other common wage disputes involve unprovided healthcare or other benefits, unpaid vacation time, and workers’ compensation matters.

Employees who are denied fair wages have a variety of legal options for recourse, including mediation or negotiation with the employer, a complaint or dispute filed with a state or federal agency, a lawsuit, or other legal action. The most appropriate next steps will depend on the specifics and context of the situation.

If the misconduct at issue affects a larger number of workers, it may be appropriate to pursue a wage and hour class action lawsuit. Such actions can make it easier for multiple individuals to recover for harms they would not have otherwise acted upon, and they can be effective in changing employer conduct.