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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When do you Need Help from a FLSA Overtime Attorney?

There are strict wage related laws in the United States of America, yet some employers use different tricks for not paying fair wages to their employees, which is the violation of FLSA guidelines.

To ensure that you do not become victim of wage theft, it is essential for you to know your entitlements.

Below mentioned are some of the mostly reported wage related cases. In case you fall victim to such a situation, you must consult a FLSA overtime attorney immediately to legally claim your wages -

• Many cases have been reported where employers do not track and calculate the total hours worked by their employees. If your employer does the same, it can be an intentional trick for not paying overtime pay.
• You must know that your employer needs to pay minimum wages set by the law. Find out the minimum wages in your state and make sure you are getting paid fairly, other do not hesitate to file a claim.
• If your employer makes you work off the clock (during the shift or in the mandatory meal breaks), it is wage and hour violation.
• Many employers misclassify their employees’ type of employment to avoid paying overtime compensation.
• Some employers make their employees work pre-shift or post-shift without any compensation. You are entitled to receive pay for every pre-shift or post-shift work.
• If you have already raised your voice against the wage and hour violations, but became a victim of retaliation, a professional lawyer can provide you the needed protection given by the law.

If you believe your employer is not paying you the money you are entitled to receive, get in touch with a professional unpaid wages lawyer immediately.

Your lawyer can offer you a free consultation to help you understand your legal position. Some experienced lawyers do not even charge any fee until they win the case for you. Therefore, under no circumstance, you should compromise with your employee rights.

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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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What are the wage rights of computer professionals in the US?

Computers have taken over the world and the demand of computer professionals has increased accordingly. In the US, there are millions of people that work in computer related fields. But, what are their wage rights? How do computer professional fare when it comes to wages? Are they covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?

Here are the wages and overtime related details that an IT worker in the US needs to know. Please note that certain states may have additional protections, like Pennsylvania, which may demand that computer professionals receive overtime.

According to law, people on selected careers in IT industry may be exempt from overtime if their classification and actual job duties dictate it. They include –

• Computer systems analysts
• Programmers
• Software engineers
• Other equally skilled professionals in this field

But, this exemption is for those workers that are receiving

• At least $455 per week (salary basis)
• At least $27.63 per hour

Their designation or job titles have nothing to do with this exemption, but the substantive work means everything. For example, if you hire a computer professional for $455 a week and make him or her work 60 hours and then just have them clean the floors, then they would not be entitled to the exemption. If they do actual programming, then they might. But be warned, in certain states the workers may still be entitled to overtime.

The Employees’ responsibilities play an essential role in this exception to overtime in the regulations. The Federal Law has demarcated several job responsibilities and if your work matches these pre-defined options, then you are most like exempt from overtime under Federal laws. These job responsibilities include –

• Systems’ analysis techniques and process application
• System’s design & development, documentation
• System’s analysis, testing or modification
• Computer program’s design, testing, and more

An IT worker that performs the above mentioned job responsibilities do not fall under federal law.

Furthermore, workers that heavily depend on computers for their work still fall under the protections of the minimum wages and overtime laws of the FLSA. But, if employers fails to show that the employee is properly exempt under the law, then the worker has every right to for overtime pay for the extra hours and work.

Many IT workers think that if they are salaried, then they are not eligible for overtime. In addition, they also think that they are not entitled to overtime. If your occupation falls under the minimum wages and overtime laws, then you have the right to receive fair payments. If the employer refuses to pay you proper amount, then you should contact an unpaid wages lawyer.

Attorneys can help you in getting your fair payments, back wages, as well as compensations for the damages (if required). The Attorneys can also guide you regarding state’s payment laws since some states mandate that even IT professionals are paid properly.

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Celebrities and unpaid wages – A long history!

Unpaid wages are a serious problem that have been increasingly been reported in different industries and the film and television industry is not an exception. Every once in a while cases emerge where a celebrity faces an overtime lawsuit due to unpaid wages. There is a long list of these cases.

Recently, a lawsuit was filed against the famous singer and musician Courtney Love. A claim was made by a writer for not receiving payments for his work on the singer’s biography. Previously, Ms. Love’s former aid took legal action against the singer for breach of contract and unpaid salary, as well as accusations of wrongful termination. Just because someone makes a claim for wages, doesn’t mean they are correct, but there is also the perception by celebrities and industries such as the NFL that is a privilege to even be affiliated with them, so they may try to cajole individuals to do work for little or no pay. 

Renowned chef and restaurateur Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant in Los Angeles (LA) was sued for unpaid salaries and overtime. This lawsuit was filed by the former employees of restaurant. In 2010, the famous singer Rihanna also faced the allegation of unpaid wages by her trainer. Trainer claimed that the singer owes her almost $26,100 for personal training services.

Comedian and actress Wendy Williams faced the allegation of not paying fair salaries to an ex-intern. An unpaid wages complaint was made against the singer and songwriter Anita Baker by her lawyer. In this lawsuit, the lawyer demanded $69,000.

It is not only celebrities that face allegations of not paying fair payments to their employees. Sometimes, even stars are stuck in the same situation. Recently soccer star Ivan Franjic left the Russian club Torpedo Moscow. He left this club over the claims of not receiving proper payments.

All these cases show that even celebrities are not safe from unfair payments and lawsuits. If you have also fallen victim to this situation, no matter who the employer is, then you should immediately contact an experienced and professional unpaid wages and overtime lawyer. An experienced attorney can help you in getting your wages for the hours worked and possibly even double or triple damages, plus attorney’s fees.

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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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How Are The Most Common Types Of Wage Theft?

The number of cases for wage theft is at rise in the United States. Wage theft is an illegal act in which employer refuses to pay fair payments to their employees. It often occurs when the employer deliberately shorts the employee pay, or confuses the employee regarding the pay and their wage and hour rights.

While there are many federal and state laws to prevent this illegal act, many employers still manage to find a way to cheat their workers out of their fair payments.

Below mentioned are the most common types of wage theft–

alaries etc. to their employees. It includes t of their fair payments. But what is wage theft?

• Overtime – Many employers refuses to pay overtime to employees for all the extra work and hours they have spent in office. According to the law, workers have the right to overtime for each hour they spend working after 40 work hours in a regular workweek. In addition, there are several exemptions for overtime based on employees’ occupations. You need to confirm with your boss and lawyer if you do or do not fall under the exempt category. If you are a non-exempt worker, then your boss is liable to pay for each hour you work over 40 (in a week). Even if your employer pays you on a salary basis, you may still be entitled to overtime if they’ve misclassified you.
• Minimum Wage – This is another category in which employers do wage theft. The law has determined the minimum wage that bosses have to pay to their employees. Many companies try to cheat their staff out of proper pay. They decline to pay the minimum wage amount to workers, which is a violation of law. This may happen in a number of ways including improperly claiming a tip credit against minimum wage. Also, some states have a minimum wage higher than the federal minimum wage and the employer is obligated to pay the higher of the two, not the lower!
• Improper deductions in pay – Many companies illegally subtract a certain amount from their employee’s pay. The deduction may be for a lunch period that a worker does not have which is free and uninterrupted, or a mandatory assessment for equipment that the employer was supposed to provide.
• Employee misclassification – Many companies try to trick their employees out of their salaries by wrongly classifying them in a different manner. They try to describe workers occupations as independent contractors so that they can be exempted from benefits like minimum salaries, overtime, and more. They also may call them managers when they only manage phones and not people.
• Working off the clock– Some employers make their workers work off the clock, which is also a violation of the law.

What you should do if you fall victim to wage theft?

The FLSA, or Fair Labor Standards Act allows a private right of action. You should contact an FLSA overtime attorney to get comprehensive legal counsel. Overtime lawyers generally only charge if they win your case and offer free consultations.

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