4 Workplace Rights You Need to Know While Working

Do you know your rights at your workplace? Many employers understand labor law and follow them, but in reality many employers regularly defy employment law. To avoid any critical situation, you need to know what your workplace rights are and be careful that your employee follows it.

1. Your employer can not hold back your paycheck for poor performance: No matter what performance you give, your employer has no right to block your salary. Of course, if you really mess up, if you are not following the policies and giving bad performance, you may be fired after a warning but you might get fired, but you still must be paid for all the hours you worked.

2. You must receive your paycheck on time:  Most state laws say how soon you must receive your paycheck after a pay period ends. In some states, an employer is alleged to pay additional money on top of your waged as penalty if your salary is late.

3. Whether you are eligible for lawyer overtime pay is decided by the government: The federal government has divided the job types into: exempt and nonexempt category. If your job is categorized as non-exempt, your employer must pay you overtime for all hours you work above 40 in a week. Your categorization is also determined by government guidelines.

4. Your employer cannot ask you to work off the clock: If you're a non-exempt employee, you are liable to be paid for all the working hours. You can't give up this right.

If your employer is violating any of the law, the most effective first step is to talk to your manager. You will probably get a better outcome, if you consider an overtime lawyer or some specialized lawyer who deals in such cases.

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Learn How To Fight For Your Rights

All employees are legally entitled to receive their wages and overtime pay in a timely manner. Many employees who have not been paid amounts, feel hesitation to complain because they are concerned about being fired or retaliated against. The wage and overtime laws have built-in protections prohibiting such retaliation.

Consult the Unpaid Wages Attorneys immediately if your employer denies to pay your rightful amount. They will fight for your right to get back the amount that your employer did not pay to you. You will get help to recover your following wages:

• Earned bonus and promised bonus
• Vacation
• Earned wages
• Salary
• Commissions

There are various reasons when an employer refuses to pay an employee:

Simply withholds your payment: Many times, the employer violate to the payment policies of the written employment contract. They try to make fool of you. At this time, you can get help to revive your wages, following the legal procedure.

Denies making your final payment: Once you leave the company, an employer can refuse to pay your last month fees or continuously delay to pay off the rightful amount over and over again. At this moment, you need to take a legal action to get back your payment at the earliest.

Unpaid Overtime Fees: Most of the time, employees have to work under pressure and they have to work extra hours. On the other hand, an employer doesn’t bother to pay them extra. Employees get usual wage amount, deducting the extra amount at the time of the payments. Only a legal advice can help you to come out of the situation.

Does Not Pay On Time: It is a common scenario that the employees don’t get wages on time. The employees believe that they can use their employers to the optimum level. It is a kind of exploitation that can be especially seen in the private sector. It is your right to get your hard earned money at the correct time.

The employment contracts are legal and the employee and  the employer are supposed to adhere to the employment contract strictly. Whatsoever is written into the employment contract should be followed strictly on the side of the employer as well as the employee. A legal action can be taken if anyone tries to violate the contract on the part of the employee and the employer. When the employer refuses to pay his employee, it is called as “unpaid wage”.

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A Few Unpaid Wages Situations

According to the federal and state laws, all the rights of the workers are secured. No employer has the right to deny the desired compensation or wages to employees. However, there are situations when the employers wrongfully deny the wages that their workers rightfully deserve. The most common unpaid wages situations are -

• Refusing to pay the minimum wage – This is a common unpaid wages situation where the employer tends to pay less than the minimum wages. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. However, there are some states that have greater payments per hour as well as protection.

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  Refusing to pay bonus and commission - It is the situation where an employer refuses to pay bonus and commissions that were decided in advance for the job to workers. Different states have different laws regarding the bonus and commission.
  
  For example, in New York, if the commissions are not paid properly, an employer will have to pay triple the damages when complainted about it. In addition, the decided bonus and commission is usually factored into the overtime calculus.

• Refusing to pay overtime - A worker who has worked for more than 40 hours in a workweek, is entitled to get overtime payments. However,many times they are denied their overtime.

• Unlawful deductions from payment - This in another common unpaid wages situation where the employer unnecessarily deducts money from a worker’s payment.

Apart from this, there are many other problems that the employees face on job, which includes doing office work from home, working for some extra time and so on. All these conditions are the violations of law and in any situation, a worker has the right to seek help from a professional FLSA overtime lawyer to receive compensation for their unpaid overtime work.

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Are you aware of the common unpaid wages issues?

Unpaid wages includes deduction from salary or the overtime money that the company does not agree to pay. It is the part of your hard work and you have complete right on it. So many employers do not pay their workers properly.  It is the right of every employee to get the complete payment.

Employees face number of situation at workplace when they do not get complete payment despite of their work. The most common unpaid wages issues are-

• Not paying the desired salary- in this situation, the employee does not get the fair salary or the employer refuses to pay the salary that the employee deserves. Paying less than the decided salary or not paying at time is also included in it.
   
• Deduction from salary- in some situations, employers unnecessarily deducts money from the worker’s salary.  This is the most common unpaid wage issue in highly reputed companies.
   
• No overtime pay-  despite the hard work of the worker, he fails to get the pay for the extra time, he worked at job
   
• Refusing to pay bonus and commissions- bonus and commissions is every employee right. The employer even refuses to pay bonus that was pre decided.

It is illegal, if an employee agrees to work for extra time and the employer does not pay for it. Therefore, if an employee come across any kind of the aforementioned situation, it is advisable to take help from the professional unpaid overtime attorney.  The professional lawyers can help workers in filing proper lawsuit to get fair settlement for unpaid time and work.

On the other hand, the employees should also make efforts on getting the right amount of pay they deserves. For example- the worker can keep record of his/her working hours rather than depending on the employer. Moreover, majority of workplaces have their policy or procedure manual. So make sure to go through the manual carefully and keep a record safe with you.

However, if you feel that you are not being paid accordingly, then you should not hesitate to raise the issue or speak to higher authorities.
There are several other problems that the workers face and do not get proper compensation. All these conditions are violation of law.

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Are you not aware with the rights of legal workplace and employment?

Are you working in an organization and not aware with the rights of the rights of legal work place and employment? Well if yes, then it is the time to take assistance from the employment lawyer. Employment lawyer is an expert in law field.

Under the assistance of the lawyer, that you choose will guide you about the legal workplace and labor rights, you may get rid of your problems of employment that you are going through. There are numerous employment violations that you may not even get an idea when your employer may debar your rights.

Therefore, it is advisable to seek help from lawyer as through their experience they can guide assist you better.

Some of the advantages that your employer will avail from you are as follows-

• cancellation of salary
• not considering extra working time
• Not paying commission to the employee
• intentionally paying bounced paycheck
• Not paying for overtime
• not paying for extended work hours

If you are facing above problems, then it is high time to take help of a professional unpaid wages attorney. If for an instance you win the case, you will be getting legal and lawyer fees from the employer. This is because of the employer that you had to seek help from the court and spend money to fight for your rights.

However, before filling case against your employer, you should not only contact a lawyer but at the same time, you should keep some evidences against your employer that will help you to make your case even more strong. Moreover, you should finds it out whether the case was genuine, as in many cases it is seen that the employer is not the defaulter rather faults from bank errors can be the cause of delay in receiving salaries from employer side.

The other important thing that you need to consider is choosing right lawyer. It is important aspect, as your case depends much on the lawyer. Therefore, make sure that the lawyer not only holds good reputation among other reputed lawyers but has years of experience in practicing law in this field. Moreover, he should be able to solve your case effortlessly so that there is no chance of defeat.

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Nanny wage troubles for celebrities that ended in lawsuits

Lawsuits are not new for celebrities since many of them are continuously in trouble. Unpaid wages and overtime are one of many aspects for which many celebrities have been sued in past few years. There is a long list of stars who faced lawsuits from their nannies for unpaid wages.

Singing sensation Mariah Carey and her estranged husband Nick Cannon faced the allegations that they did not paid their children’s nanny fairly. According to the claimant, she worked almost 100 hours per week. According to her claims, star refused to pay for all the extra hours she spent taking care of singer’s kids. Claimant worked for the singer for years but never received her overtime wages. In the end, plaintiff was terminated from the job for expressing excessive fondness towards kids.

Singer and songwriter Usher is another star who was indicted by his children’s nanny. Claimant worked part time for the star. She often worked more than 40 hours in a regular week for which she was never paid justly. In the end, she was fired without any overtime payments. She filed a lawsuit against singing star for her rightful overtime payments.

Actress and socialite Brooke Mueller also faced the allegations from her former nanny regarding unpaid wages. Claimant has demanded almost $10 million in the overtime payments for her extra hours and work. She worked for years with actress. During that period, she worked more than 40 hours in a regular work week without any payment.

Pop sensation Britney Spears was also indicted by an ex nanny regarding unpaid wages. In this lawsuit, claimant demanded over $35,000 for a one month's work. Singer and model Tamar Braxton along with her Vincent Herbert faced the allegations of not giving fair payments her former nanny. According to the claimants, star is obliged to pay her more than $161,000 in unpaid wages. She claimed that she never received reasonable salary for her work and extra hours.

There are several other lawsuits in which celebrities were sued by their nannies for wages, overtime etc. Like every other employee, these child care professionals also have a right to get paid fairly for their work and additional hours. If you are nanny and a victim a wage theft, then you must contact a professional and experienced overtime attorney. These attorneys can aid you in getting your payments and overtime back along with damages. They have the knowledge and experience, which they use to gain advantages in claims in favor of their client.

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Can you get fired for Raising Your Voice against Wage and Hour Violations?

There are stringent wage related laws in the US such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and various state law protections. Still every year many employers violate state and federal wage and hour laws. Regardless of the fact that violation occurred intentionally or unintentionally, employees have the rights to raise their voice against it and there are some serious penalties for employers who violate the law.

Unfortunately, many workers make compromises with their rights just because of the fears of negative actions that the employer may take against them. One of their main concerns is getting fired from the job. It is essential for all the workers to understand that the law protects them from retaliation for invoking wage and hour rights. It does not matter whether the complaint for violation was formal or informal, you are protected by the law, but still it is always best to consult with an attorney before taking that step forward, because if it’s done informally, you need to prove that it happened!

No employer is allowed to fire any employee for raising his voice against the violations of wage laws. But it is kind of like freedom of speech in a dictatorship – you can speak up in an oppressive country like North Korea, but there are consequences afterwards. Even though it’s illegal the employer can improperly fire you, but you may have a strong lawsuit for retaliation, but not have a job, that’s why someone who’s been through it before can discuss with you your rights and the prospects of success. Retaliation does not mean termination only, as it can also occur in different forms such as demotion, change in job responsibilities, job title, etc. Employees that experience such changes should consider it as retaliation. 

Therefore, if your employer fails to pay state or federal minimum wages, overtime or misclassifies you, do not hesitate to raise your voice, but you should first seek help from an experienced overtime attorney to have an understand of how the law protects you from retaliation in such situations. Your lawyer will gather both direct and indirect evidence to prove retaliation.

Many lawyers offer free consultation session and do not charge any fee unless they win the case. Therefore, there are no reasons for you to avoid or hesitate while seeking legal help. Honest pay is your right and you must not make any compromises on it.

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Who can assist you in getting your unpaid wages?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the federal law that protects wages and other rights of employees in America. Still, many workers fall victim to wage theft and unpaid salaries. Employers find different methods like falsely claiming an exempted position or employee contract to trick workers out of their fair wages. Usually, they trick employees in overtime, bonuses, paychecks, and commissions, breaks, off the clockwork, vacations, or leave.

There are many different government agencies charged with investigating wage theft, but the government is not incentivized to zealously protect your rights. Government workers receive a salary no matter what happens to your case, they are graded statistically on them resolving cases, not necessarily by the quality of the resolution. In contrast, most private attorneys who litigate wage and hour disputes are not paid unless they win your case, so they have ever incentive to win your case and win big, if feasible.

You can contact an unpaid wages attorney to file a lawsuit against your employer. Usually, lawyers first speak with you at length about your case and determine if this affects many other people. If so, it may be brought as a class or collective action which can try to maximize your recovery and remedy an injustice. In contrast to a government settlement, if your case is brought as a class, the lawyers will try to get you an incentive award above and beyond your maximum relief that you may be entitled to by law.

In off the clock claims, as the plaintiff you have the burden of proof and you need to provide proper evidences of wage theft. It may include records of work hours (whether on paper or electronic), paychecks etc. and evidence contradicting the paid hours. If you are classified as exempt from overtime and the employer makes you work many hours claiming your salaried, the employer has the burden of proof. For example, if they call you an account manager and try to say your exempt from overtime but you don’t manage any people, they may have misclassified you and you may be entitled to overtime for all those overtime hours worked.

What can you get from lawsuit?

Under Federal Law, Workers can get back payments if they win lawsuit in court. They might also get an equal amount for the liquidated damages. In addition, the attorney's fees are often paid separately. Each state may also have other damages you are entitled to.

You should discuss with your lawyer about the compensations or other fees you may receive on winning the unpaid salary case.

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What Legal Options Do You Have When You are Fired Wrongly?

Every year thousands of cases are filed against employers that unlawfully fire their employees for improper reasons. One of the trending reasons behind such incidents is retaliation after they raise voice for their unpaid and overtime wages. Hence, it is necessary for workers to understand that they are protected from terminations or other punishments after speaking up about their wages if they are shorted their lawful pay.

Getting fair pay is the right of every employee and under no circumstance, they should compromise with it. You are entitled to pay for every hour worked. Anything done for the benefit of the employer, such as security checks, folding napkins, booting up a computer is time that should be compensated. If you have any concerns, consulting a professional overtime attorney is highly suggested.

A professional can explain all the laws that protect you in these situations. You can book a free confidential consultation session to have your present situation evaluated. If they find out that your rights were compromised, and that you were wrongfully terminated, you may receive the following damage coverage.

Front Pay- It includes the coverage of lost future earnings and benefits caused by an illegal termination. The idea of the front pay is to visualize the situation where wrongful termination of the employee did not occur and compare it with the present situation. A front pay award will be allowed, if worker is found getting paid less compared to the payments before the wrongful termination.

Back Pay- It includes the calculation of what the employee has earned after the termination and what they would have earned up to the date of verdict, to calculate the damages. However, in some circumstances, the employer can reduce a back pay award, if employer successful proves that the accuser’s mitigation efforts were not good enough.

Emotional Suffering- This is a tricky issue. Most jurors are not sympathetic with emotional suffering in a commercial or business dispute. If there is some degree of sexual harassment in which an employer coerces an employee for sex as a condition for employment, otherwise known as quid pro quo sexual harassment, the employee may be entitled for this recovery. Employee can also receive a compensation for their emotional suffering. However, it is necessary to present evidence that shows a genuine connection between the emotional pain and unlawful act of the employer. It is understandable that sufferers do not always seek medical help for emotional disturbance, but still some credible evidence of the distress is mandatory.

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Know Your Rights to Get Fair Wages!

Every citizen of the United States has some fundamental rights, which they must be aware of. One such fundament right says that all the workers must be compensated fairly for their labor. According to this right, not only do salaried individuals stand to receive their monthly income, they may also be entitled to receive payment for extra working hours.

It is of paramount importance that every worker knows what rights are to protect oneself from being exploited by an unscrupulous employer. Knowing the law and how it pertains to overtime is essential otherwise, dishonest employers will find it very easy to trick you and keep you deprived of your rightful money.

Laws regarding overtime were constituted in the 1930s in order to protect workers from greedy employers. The economy has come a long way since then, and with the evolution of the economy some employers have tried to fairly coincide with the laws, while other evolve to find ways to deprive employees of the money that this theirs and feast on it for their own gluttony and greed.

The rules regarding overtime in the US are simple. The Fair Labor Standards Act says that if someone works beyond forty hours a week, the worker must be paid overtime, unless they have a lawful exemption from overtime. If there is an exemption, the employer has the burden of justifying it and sometimes that is a very complicated road to hoe.

To calculate the overtime, an employer will have to first calculate a worker’s standard hourly wage. Beyond 40 hours, workers must be paid 1.5 times of that standard hourly wage rate. Let us understand this with an example. If you are an employee who makes twenty dollars an hour, then according to this fair wages rule, you must be paid thirty dollars for every single hour beyond standard working period, which is 40 hours. Sometimes, the worker is also paid things like night differential or other premiums which must be factored into the overtime calculus. If it’s not there’s a violation that’s actionable.

Some professionals are exempted from this privilege. The FLSA has put a few occupations under the exempted category (meaning people in those professions do not stand to receive overtime compensation). The FLSA puts people into this category whose job and work responsibilities are managerial or executive in nature. Oftentimes, though, they falsely use this so one must speak to a professional to understand whether you should be paid overtime. For example, if you’re an account manager, but no one reports to you, you are probably are not properly classified as exempt from overtime under the professional exemption.

Sometimes a job title can be quite vague, which creates a loophole for companies to take unethical advantage of it. Companies do that by making employees work for more than standard hours, by making their job profile look ambiguous and considering them as exempted employees, even when they are not. If you feel you are being victimized the same way, you can hire an unpaid overtime lawyer to claim the unpaid compensation that belongs to you.

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Claim your Unpaid Overtime by Hiring a Lawyer

In an economy, which is constantly prone to ups and down, it is sometimes hard to make ends meet. This is why people will go extra lengths at work in order to keep a job and afford the daily expenses. People often do that by working overtime and spending extra hours in addition to regular working hours and sometimes the company does not properly pay them for all their hours worked.

To make sure people are fairly paid for the work they do, there are several federals laws, state laws, and regulations that govern how employees must be paid. There are specific laws that determine the minimum wage as well as minimum payment for every hour worked as overtime. The one most frequently invoked is the Fair Labor Standards Act, known as the FLSA, which sets the minimum wage and overtime protocols under Federal Law.

However the bitter truth is that despite all these laws, there are some employers who exploit their employees by not paying overtime or pay or make people work off the clock and pay less than minimum wage.

If your employer is shorting you wages, do not just sit back, instead stand up, and raise your voice. You can hire a lawyer for unpaid wages to fight for your rights. Most overtime lawyers work purely on contingency which means they are not paid for commencing an overtime lawsuit unless they win your case.

According to federal law, if a person has spent forty hours in a week working for his company, he will be entitled to receive overtime payment for every additional hour spent working unless there is an FLSA exemption.

However, there are certain exceptions to the rule. For instance there are some professions in which people are not entitled to demand overtime payment. Each position has its exception and the exception to its exception, so it’s best to consult with a lawyer who is experienced in filing wage and hour complaints.

Hard working people should be rewarded for their work, especially when it leads to the success of the company, but some employers fail to realize that. In fact they fail to keep their end of the deal and look for ways to cut corners to line their own pockets further. In such situations, the only solution is to raise your voice, and a lawyer will help you do that. But remember that such cases are often highly time-sensitive and any delay may result in you losing some of your damages. Most calls to overtime law firms are confidential and free, so there is no downside to educate yourself about your rights.

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Are You Getting Paid for Overtime at Work?

How would it feel, if you do not get paid for the all extra hours you have worked or are still working. Employees, who are not aware of their employee rights, or are forced to work in oppressive work conditions because of the poor economy are vulnerably to become the victims of labor and employment violations.

As an employee, do you have any unpaid overtime wages? If you are unsure or have no information about this, keep on reading.

When we talk about unpaid wages, it includes situations such as:

• Working before or after your scheduled work shift without any compensation
• Receiving less than minimum wage
• Not being paid for overtime work or claiming that you are salaried so they can work you as many hours as they want for the same rate
• Performing work after clocking out

Well, if you are one of these hard working employees and you believe that your employer is violating state or federal wage laws, raise your voice to raise your wages. Filling a lawsuit is another option for you. For that, you would need a lawyer for unpaid wages to get the justice you deserve. Find a lawyer who has appropriate knowledge of the labor code and someone who can stand with you to vindicate your rights.

You may be entitled to double damages plus your attorney fees paid directly from the defendant. After listening and understating the whole scenario, your lawyer can develop and suggest strategies of the process

Many lawyers in the industry will fight your case with no money up front unless you win. The consultation is confidential and no information will be disclosed to your employer or to the outside world unless you decide to file suit. It’s best to learn your options from a law firm experienced in overtime litigation.

It is strongly recommended that every employee who suspects there may be some sort of wage violation consult with a law firm who has knowledge and information about state and federal wage laws. This will help prevent you from becoming a victim of unpaid or minimum wage violations.

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