Is Your Employer Paying You Illegally?

We all need to work to make a living, and how we are compensated should be straightforward and easy to understand. In other words, employee pay should not be a complicated subject. Unfortunately, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and other wage and hour laws tend to be lengthy, densely worded, and full of exceptions to rules.

To make matters worse, many employers take illegal advantage of the fact that the laws are not always clear or easy to research. They propose employee payment plans that do not comply with federal or state laws. As a result, workers are denied overtime pay and other important benefits that they are legally entitled to.

Examples Of Non-Complying Payment Plans

Overtime violations are perhaps the most common source of non-compliance with wage and hour laws. The FLSA generally requires that companies pay non-exempt workers 150 percent of their hourly pay for any hours over 40 hours per week. But companies are often very creative at finding ways to get workers to work overtime without paying them the standard overtime rate.

Consider the following example: Your employer has you work 40 hours or more between Monday and Friday. During the week, anything over 40 hours is considered overtime. Then, as the weekend approaches, your employer asks you to work a little extra and offers you a $100 bonus to do so, but doesn’t include that bonus in your hourly rate of pay when paying overtime.

Chances are that a payment plan like this would be illegal. Because the FLSA requires overtime rates on all compensation above 40 hours, those rates would very likely also apply to bonuses, commissions, daily rates and lump-sum payments.

How Can You Tell If Your Employer Is Complying With The Law?

If your company’s pay practices seem suspicious or difficult to understand, you may want to trust your instinct and go looking for more information. Although you can do research on your own, the simplest way to get your questions answered is to speak to a skilled attorney like those at our firm.

We are dedicated to protecting the workplace rights of Texans, and that includes ensuring that you are being paid fairly and legally.

Contact Us To Learn About Your Legal Rights

Moreland Verrett, P.C., serves clients in the Austin area and throughout Texas. We are pleased to offer free initial consultations to all prospective clients. To discuss your case for free with an experienced employment lawyer, call us at 512-782-0567. You can also send us an email.