Victim Of Wage Theft? Consider Hiring An Expert Wage And Hour Attorney

Getting paid legitimately for your work is your legal right. However, in reality, the incidents of wage theft are widespread. Wage theft takes place when an employer takes deceptive ways to deprive an employee of his overtime premium or fails to pay the minimum wage that the law wants the employer to pay. Being victimized by wage theft, you may pursue a remedial step by making a complaint to the department of labor (DOL) or by seeking the assistance of a wage and hour attorney in Los Angeles. As per surveys, working with a dependable lawyer is worth considering to get a compensatory claim for the damages that you have suffered.   

What is The FSL Act?   

The fair labor standards act (FSLA) has enforced a series of rules and regulations when it comes to wage and hour laws and disputes. While these rules are applicable to all employers working under the federal law structure, states are allowed to make their own rules which may be more intense based on their regulatory policy.

For instance, while the federal minimum wage is set as $7.25 per hour, the minimum wage in Los Angeles has been raised to $16.04 per hour in 2022 from $15.00  

Therefore, if your employer breaches the related minimum wage in your city, and pays you less than what you deserve, then the law entitles you to get wage compensation for your sufferings. Noteworthy, if it is proved by the wage and hour attorney in Los Angeles that your employer has taken malicious strategies like misclassifying you as a manager or independent worker in violating the law, then you will be entitled to bonus punitive damages as per the law.  

In addition to minimum wage, the FLSA has also imposed different rules relating to meal/break periods, overtime pay rules, and more. If any of those rules are violated by your employer, you can sue your employer for compensatory damages.

The Work Hour Rules  

According to the Act, employees are required to work for 8 hours a day or 48 hours a workweek. Unless exempt, workers who are covered by the Act need to receive overtime premium pay for the hours they work over 40 in a workweek. The overtime rate should not be less than time and one-half of their minimum wages. There is no restriction on the number of hours worked as overtime for employees who are aging 16 or above.

An expert wage and hour attorney in Los Angeles can help you get compensated for wage theft issues like:

•    Unpaid wages

•    Unpaid overtime

•    Unpaid bonuses/commissions

•    Illegal deduction of pay against meal and rest periods rules/breaks

•    Unlawful deduction of wage  

•    For misclassifying you as an exempt employee/ contractor to avoid paying overtime pay / minimum wage respectively

•    Failure to pay minimum wage

•    And more

Each of the above scenarios involves a differing set of laws and procedures, and thereby the nature or amount of the claim may differ depending on the particular circumstances of your case. For example, an owed wage claim may develop into a retaliation-based claim if it’s found that the employer has withdrawn your wage to punish you for your whistleblowing. Equally the amount of damage may differ depending on what kind of crookery is done by the employer to pay you less or for keeping you unpaid.

AkopyanLaw.com is a Los Angeles based attorney’s representing the clients in practice areas including employment law, personal injury, labor law, sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination, unlawful termination, race discrimination, reasonable accommodation, bicycle and bus accidents, sex discrimination, overtime, unpaid wages, wage and hour, and more. To know more, visit https://www.akopyanlaw.com/attorneys/.