The better question, when is a wage claim not worth pursuing? Wage theft is illegal but also, rather commonplace throughout the United States. You are entitled to the wages for all the time you work.

Employers steal employee wages in several different ways, including minimum wage violations, failing to pay overtime, asking employees to work when they are not clocked in, and paying employees a “salary” when they should be paid hourly plus overtime.

Wage Claims

There are plenty of ways employers rob employees of their hard-earned wages. If you experience any of these or others, you may want to consider a wage claim.

• Unpaid minimum wage or overtime
• Not provided with paid sick leave
• Not receiving meal and rest breaks
• Not receiving or refusal of the final paycheck
• Unlawful deductions from pay
• Non-reimbursed business expenses including mileage driven in personal cars for business and/or usage of personal cell phones for business

But, there are also other reasons. If you feel you lost your job, had wages refused or cut due to any of these reasons:

• Workplace discrimination, including age, race, gender, disability
• Sexual harassment
• Retaliation
• Wrongful firing
• Breach of an employment contract
• Cancellation of non-competition agreements

Any reason your employer has that seems unreasonable or illegal needs to be addressed. Too many employers get away with it simply because they don’t believe you will do anything about it.

If you believe you have lost wages for any of these reasons, you should take action to recover the wages you have earned. Contact an employment lawyer who understands these things.

Filing a Complaint

You may consider filing a complaint about lost wages with your employer. You can usually do this by talking to management or union reps. You could also file a claim with the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor. However, most employees find that such complaints are very slow to resolve if they ever do and that they receive less money for their wages.

It is also a good idea to talk to your peers at work to see if any of them have experienced the same things. Your case is generally stronger if your employer is not paying a group of employees all wages they have earned.

Talk to a Lawyer

You should always consider talking to a lawyer. A lawyer can generally tell you right away if your employer not complying with the wage laws. A lawyer can also guide you through the process of filing a complaint or taking further action.

Regardless of your status at work; contract worker, part-time, seasonal, or salaried, you all have the right to receive all your wages. You have the legal right to be paid for all your work time.

Rowdy Meeks Legal Group LLC represents employees in class and collective action pay claims. They have a lot of experience and they can help you get the money that is owed to you. Don’t let your employer steal your wages.

Please contact Rowdy Meeks today with any questions, concerns or to find out your rights. Ask about our free case evaluation, to get you started in the right direction. We fight for employee pay rights.