Employees on the lookout for wage theft
Wage theft can come in a variety of forms - employers failing to pay workers properly for overtime, illegal tip pooling, misclassifying workers under exemptions for which they do not qualify or simply failing to pay workers minimum wage rates. These payroll practices may be intentional or unintentional.
If employers do not understand state and federal labor laws, they might fail to issue correct remuneration for all of an employee's time attendance, reports The Miami Herald. However, some businesses deliberately disregard the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provisions regarding overtime pay and minimum wage in order to keep their costs low.
Regardless of the reason for wage theft, the U.S. Department of Labor has made it clear that it plans to identify violators and recoup any unpaid compensation on behalf of employees. In particular, the DOL's Wage and Hour Division is cracking down in low-paying fields, such as the restaurant and construction industries.
"For a variety of reasons, including the fear of retaliation and of losing their jobs, these employees are reluctant to step forward and complain when subjected to wage violations," said Jeffrey Genkos of the Wage and Hour Division in Portland.
Employers in these industries should take special care to safeguard themselves against FLSA violations. They can install a new payroll processing system that factors in different rates based on minimum wage and overtime pay to ensure employees are receiving all the money they are owed.
If employers do not understand state and federal labor laws, they might fail to issue correct remuneration for all of an employee's time attendance, reports The Miami Herald. However, some businesses deliberately disregard the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) provisions regarding overtime pay and minimum wage in order to keep their costs low.
Regardless of the reason for wage theft, the U.S. Department of Labor has made it clear that it plans to identify violators and recoup any unpaid compensation on behalf of employees. In particular, the DOL's Wage and Hour Division is cracking down in low-paying fields, such as the restaurant and construction industries.
"For a variety of reasons, including the fear of retaliation and of losing their jobs, these employees are reluctant to step forward and complain when subjected to wage violations," said Jeffrey Genkos of the Wage and Hour Division in Portland.
Employers in these industries should take special care to safeguard themselves against FLSA violations. They can install a new payroll processing system that factors in different rates based on minimum wage and overtime pay to ensure employees are receiving all the money they are owed.
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