You come to work on time, fulfill your job duties and consider yourself an exemplary employee. Still, you feel your employer may steal your wages, but you cannot prove it.
See what GOBankingRates says about sneaky ways that companies commit wage theft. Determine whether you experienced a violation of your rights as an employee.
Not paying mandated overtime
If you work over 40 hours a workweek, the Fair Labor Standards Act notes that your employer must pay you time and a half. If you notice on a check that you only received standard pay even though you worked over 40 hours, your company bears guilt for wage theft.
Misclassifying employees
Were you originally hired as a regular employee, or did the company bring you on as an independent contractor or manager? Some employers intentionally misclassify employees to avoid paying overtime. Managers, independent contractors and other exempt employees do not qualify for overtime pay. If you do not carry out managerial duties, or if your employer controls when and how you work and your company does not pay you overtime, you could have a wage theft case.
Not paying tipped workers
Even if you qualify as a tipped worker, your employer must still ensure you earn a livable wage. While your company may pay you an hourly wage of $2.13 as a tipped employee, your employer must also cover the difference if your tips and wage combined do not equal minimum wage. Keep close track of your tips, wages and hours to better determine if your company tries to cheat you out of your wages.
Not all employers openly commit wage theft. Understand when underhanded tactics break the law.
