You’re an hourly worker, and you are paid for any time you spend on your work. As such, it started to surprise you when you’d get calls from colleagues asking questions about work or from clients asking to go through a consultation at home. Technically, you’re not on...
Wage & Hour Laws
How can workers prove their employer has stolen their wages?
Many businesses have strict policies intended to keep their workers from stealing from them. Companies will claim that workers who take too long in the bathroom have engaged in time theft by charging for their time while they attend to their own bodily needs instead...
Overtime pay and wage theft: What employees need to know
Wage theft is a big problem in America. According to studies, roughly 17% of low-income workers are victims of wage theft at any given time -- and they lose roughly $3,300 per year of income. The vast majority of employers carefully pay their employees whatever they...
The legal difference between exempt and non-exempt workers
Many workers are subjected to unfair employment practices without realizing it. One way is through hourly employment. Employers may pay employees like salary workers when they should be paid hourly. What does that mean? Generally, workers are paid in one of two ways:...
The mechanics of wage theft in modern life reveal some disturbing trends
What’s the most widespread criminal act affecting poor and disenfranchised workers in the United States? Would you believe wage theft? It’s estimated that wage theft robs American workers of about $15 billion a year. It’s often overlooked, ignored or -- at most --...
Misclassification can lead to lost wages
A combination of federal laws, Florida laws and local laws guarantee that employees in Broward County get paid a minimum wage each hour and receive overtime pay after working the equivalent of 40 hours a week. However, employers do not have to pay minimum wage or...
If you have unpaid overtime, document everything
Do you trust your employer? Most people do, at least to a certain extent. Yet, the sad reality is many employers in southern Florida are looking out for their own interests rather than those of their employees. This means they sometimes take advantage of their...
American workers lose billions each year to wage theft
When prosecutors and politicians talk about taking a tough stance on crime, they are usually not talking about wage theft. But millions of U.S. workers across lose up to $16 billion in income each year, according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). The...
Understanding differential pay
Many in Fort Lauderdale define a workday as beginning at around 9:00 a.m. and continuing until 5:00 p.m. Indeed, this is standard work week recognized by most. Yet countless people work outside of these hours, plying their trades in the evening or late night. Working...
Can I refuse to take lunch breaks?
Rules about lunch and meal breaks vary from workplace to workplace, or even from state to state. As a result, it can be complicated for workers to navigate the specific rules at their given place of employment. One common question concerns whether it's permissible for...