You deserve to receive the wages you worked so hard to earn and your employer promised you. So as soon as you realize that you are not being compensated accordingly, you must address it with your employer. Follow along to find out what wage theft tactics your employer might be using against you and how one of the proficient California wage & hour lawyers at Stansbury Brown Law, PC can protect you from it.
What are common wage theft tactics that I must look out for?
The act of wage theft may not be as simple as your employer withholding your paychecks from you. Rather, your employer may use complex strategies to pay you ordinately low wages or avoid vacation, holiday, and bonus benefits. Otherwise, they may just be getting around federal and state wage laws and regulations. While some are more obvious than others, below are common wage theft tactics that you must look out for:
- Your employer is paying you the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour instead of the California minimum wage of $15.50 per hour.
- Your employer is neglecting to pay the difference if your tips are not sufficient to equal the California minimum wage standard.
- Your employer is deducting the processing fees or costs from the tip amount you earned from a credit card charge.
- Your employer is giving your usual hourly rate instead of time and half when you work more than eight hours. Or, within a workday or 40 hours within a workweek.
- Your employer is misclassifying you as an “exempt” employee (i.e., administrative employee, executive employee, etc.) so that they do not have to pay you overtime wages.
What action should I take if I do not receive my agreed-upon wages?
If you suspect that your employer is using wage theft tactics against you, then you should report it to the United States Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. Similarly, you should file a complaint with the California Department of Industrial Relations’ Labor Commissioner’s Office.
Next, it is in your best interest to save copies of these complaints. This is because these complaints may come in handy in your wage theft lawsuit against your negligent employer. This should go alongside evidence of the hours you worked, the rate of pay you were promised, the benefits you are entitled to, and more. Ultimately, such proof will increase the likelihood that you will be awarded back wages, liquidated damages, punitive damages, and more.
There may be an extensive legal road ahead of you. But in the end, the first step you should take toward your legal action is to retain the services of one of the talented California wage and hour lawyers. So call us at Stansbury Brown Law, PC today.