UNPAID WAGE VIOLATION
When your wages are unpaid, it’s called wage theft—no matter whether your employer meant to withhold your money or not. It’s crucial to understand how employers commit wage theft and then become educated on what you can do to stop it. We’ve compiled some helpful information on common types of unpaid wage violations. If you believe you’re a victim of unpaid wage violations in Ohio, let our Cincinnati unpaid wage violation attorneys help. At Coffman Legal, our team can help you get the unpaid wages you earned but haven’t received from your employer.
To start, employees are to be paid promptly at the end of their pay period. If your check is held up for some reason, that could be an unpaid wage violation. If you get fired or quit, your final paycheck is to be issued by the next pay period. In most cases, you can either pick it up in person or request that it be mailed to you. If you had any accrued vacation or other paid time off (PTO) that was unused when you left, that also should be included in your final check. For workers who are paid an hourly wage, unpaid overtime is one of the most frequent unpaid wage violations we see. That is followed by employers who force you to work off the clock. Does your job require you to attend meetings outside of your regular working hours that are job-related? If so, you should be paid. Do you travel between job sites for your work? Then that is time you should be compensated for as well.
Tipped employees who are made to turn in a portion of their tips outside of a valid tip pool are also victims of wage theft.
Employees who have unpaid lunch or other break periods are entitled to compensation if they work through them. Rest periods or meal periods that you work through should be paid. Employers need to reinforce your break times. If you are requested or permitted through your breaks, then you deserve to be compensated.On-call employees who are required to remain on premises should also be compensated for their time.
Under the FLSA, employers are allowed to round your hours to the nearest quarter-hour, but they can’t necessarily round down. For example, minutes one through seven can be rounded down. However, anything that falls between minutes eight and 14 should be rounded up. Watch for employers who round down when they should be rounding up.If you are a victim of wage theft, you are entitled to recover back pay in the amount of your wages. You could also be entitled to liquidated damages for the amount that equals your back pay. That means you could be paid double for the amount of wages your company wrongfully withheld from you. In some cases, you may also get your attorney’s fees and costs covered.
You only have a limited amount of time to file for unpaid wages. If you suspect your employer is withholding your wages, contact Coffman Legal right away. We are available to help employees in Cincinnati and throughout Ohio collect the unpaid wages and costs they are entitled to under federal and state law.