If you are a legal employee within the state and the country, there are certain wage laws that have been put in place to protect you. These laws have been put in place mainly to prevent greedy or fraudulent employers from overworking you and underpaying you. In case you believe that your employer is going against the Wage And Hour Law, you can get justice by hiring an attorney. But before you do that, you need to understand the law well.
Minimum wage
To start with, every state has a minimum wage per hour. For instance, if the minimum wage per hour for the state is $9 per hour, it means that you cannot be paid less than that amount regardless of the occupation that you are in. If an employer is paying you less than that amount, they are practicing what is called wage theft and should be sued in court. The general wage for different occupation will range from employer to employer and will also depend on your rank in the company.
Dealing with wage theft
When wage theft issues occur, the employee fears confronting the boss about it. This is because of fear of losing a job. However, keeping quiet is agreeing to keep on overworking and getting underpaid. The only thing that you can do in this case is filing a complaint and getting a lawyer to represent you.
Other things covered by the law
Besides the minimum wage, there are other things that are covered by the wage and hour law. These include issues to do with overtime payments. The law explores issues such as after how many hours in a week you should claim for overtime payment. The law also deals with issues to do with employment benefits and other privileges, especially for people that are working part time.
The best way to make sure that your current employer is not going against the laws is getting a lawyer to have a look at your contract, work hours and benefits. They will compare your conditions to the specific Wage And Hour Law and tell you if you are being cheated. To get expert advice on this issue.
