Allegations of wage theft are very serious, and both employers and employees need to know how this process works.
In the United States, there are very strict laws about how employees must be paid to ensure that they are not exploited or taken advantage of by their employers. To better show how this works, let’s look at a few examples of wage theft.
It’s not always as simple as you would assume
The most obvious example of wage theft is simply not paying an employee. This could happen due to a glitch in payroll or for some other innocent reason, but it could also be done intentionally. Employees who are repeatedly not paid on time may become very frustrated. However, this is certainly not the only way that it happens, and a few more examples include:
- Paying workers standard wages when they worked overtime
- Taking tips that were intended for specific workers
- Paying anything less than minimum wage laws allow
- Paying less than is specified in an employment contract
- Not paying bonuses that were previously guaranteed
- Refusing to give workers the paid vacation time they were offered
- Forcing employees to keep working through breaks
- Making employees cover costs and then not reimbursing them for those costs
Are you an employee who feels that you have not been paid fairly? Maybe it happened in one of the ways listed above, or perhaps it’s a completely unique situation that still costs you the money you deserve. If so, you need to know what legal options you have to ensure that you are paid fairly.