Wage violations happen frequently. Some reports claim that wage theft is more common than any other type of theft in the United States. People often think of home invasions, bank robberies or similar crimes, but most theft occurs when corporations steal wages from their workers.
To see how this happens, take a look at the three examples below. It’s important to know what legal options you have if these have happened to you.
Overtime violations
In some cases, employers violate overtime laws. This could be as simple as paying an employee their normal rate instead of time and a half. Issues can also arise when employers offer comp time in exchange for overtime pay but fail to pay out the comp time at time and a half, as required.
Illegal tip pools
Tip pooling is often legal, but it must be done correctly. Employees must be informed of the tip pool in advance, and managers, company owners, supervisors and others cannot be included in it. If the owner of a company takes money out of the pool or fails to be transparent, this constitutes wage theft.
Deductions from tips
Similarly, it is illegal for an employer to make deductions from tips, as these are considered the property of the employee. An employer has no right to interfere with them or detract even a percentage from them, for any reason, despite the fact that the tips were earned at the employer’s place of business.
Have you experienced any of these issues in your workplace? If your rights have been violated, it’s essential to know exactly what legal steps you can take moving forward.