Many employees make necessary cuts to earn a few more dollars each year. Some of these strategies can be against the law, such as wage theft. Employees may suffer severe injury if their employers try to steal their pay.
Employees have a right to fair compensation. You might need to learn how employees steal money from their workers in order to understand how you may be a victim:
1. No overtime pay
To fulfill deadlines, a lot of employees work extra hours. Employees who put in extra time are entitled to one and a half times their regular pay. When employers do not pay their workers overtime, that’s usually wage theft. Furthermore, employees may be asked to come in early or leave late to clean up or change outfits – off the clock. That’s illegal.
2. Misclassification
Some companies will misclassify their workers as contractors to avoid paying them. The wording in a contract, for example, may state that there’s a cap on the amount of hours an employee can work, which could mean they aren’t eligible for overtime pay.
Furthermore, as contracted workers, workers may not get the same advantages as full-time employees. This could mean that the workers won’t get workers’ compensation benefits and other employee rights.
3. Unlawful deduction
Employers may attempt to illegally deduct money from employees’ paychecks. This may occur, for instance, if an employee needs a work uniform and their employers withhold pay to cover the cost. Alternatively, an employer may not have paid an employee’s business expenditures, such as gas and travel expenses.
Wage theft can create a lot of issues for people trying to make a living. Victims may need to learn about their legal rights to understand how to fight against wage theft.
