Do you need the assistance of an unpaid wages lawyer?
Are you searching for a personable, relatable, and competent wage and hour or employment lawyer? At Gold Star Law, we know that you work hard and deserve to be paid for all of the time that you work. There are federal and state laws that control how much employers are required to pay their employees. Most people should be paid at least minimum wage plus one and a half times their regular rate for all hours worked over forty in a single week. The Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and similar state laws provide protection for most employees, covering issues such as:
- Minimum wage
- Overtime pay
- Employee benefits
- Misclassification as an Independent Contractor
When employers violate these wage and hour employment laws, they need to be held accountable. Whether you’re being denied overtime because you’re on salary or you’re being asked to work “off the clock,” the FLSA defines when an employee should be compensated for their time. In most cases, employees should be paid overtime for working more than forty hours and for all of the time that they are required to work.
However, there are some exceptions to the law, known as “exemptions”, which determine whether an employee is exempt from either the minimum wage or overtime requirements. This means that an employee may not be entitled to either minimum wage for all hours worked or overtime for all hours worked in excess of 40 hours per week. Whether an employee is exempt is based on the work they do. Some of the more common exemptions are the administrative exemption, the executive exemption, and the professional exemption, though there are several less common exemptions, such as the exemption that applies to maple sap processors (for more information on the maple sap processor exemption, please see our post from July 25, 2018). We often see cases in which an employee is being treated as if they are exempt from the minimum wage and/or overtime provisions of the FLSA, or similar state laws, when they are in fact not exempt, and are therefore not being paid legally.
Whether an employee should be compensated for time spent working “off the clock” will also depend on if their job duties qualify for an exemption from the various wage and hour laws. An employer also has to be aware of the fact that an employee is working the extra hours. Our post from April 2, 2018 addresses the issue of working “of the clock” in more detail.
Another problem we see frequently is that many employers incorrectly treat their workers as “independent contractors” when, as a matter of law, they should be considered employees. If you are not really a proper independent contractor, you should be getting all the benefits an employee would get, such as minimum wage and overtime pay. Gold Star Law can help if you have been misclassified as an independent contractor. If you’re looking for more information about the difference between employees and independent contractors, please check out our post from July 3, 2019.
A common concern is that your employment lawyer will need to contact your employer to discuss your claim. When you bring your case to us, Gold Star Law will not – under any circumstances – contact your employer without your permission. You can rest assured that your conversations with us are private, confidential, and performed with your best interests in mind. With employment lawyers specializing in wage and hour violations, Gold Star Law can help you find out if you should be paid more than you are currently receiving and can help you recover lost wages. You may even be entitled to twice what you should have been paid.
To discuss your claim with us, we encourage you to reach out to us via our contact page or call us at 1-248-851-GOLD (1-248-851-4653).
