Everyone who works, should get paid, or there’s a problem, especially if you’re working for someone else. Not everyone faces workplace discrimination or needs family leave, but those who work for a living want to make sure that they are paid correctly for the hours that they work. If you have questions about getting paid, the “pay and hours” section of the Workplace Fairness website, www.workplacefairness.org, is for you.
Those who work on an hourly basis are generally entitled to the minimum wage. Those who are paid hourly are also generally entitled to overtime pay for hours worked over 40 in a week. Even if you’re salaried, however, you might be entitled to overtime, so check our exemptions page to make sure your overtime is being handled properly. Both the overtime and exemptions pages reflect changes to overtime regulations that went into effect last August, so they are a valuable resource for workers and advocates alike. Many thanks are due J. Derek Braziel of Dallas, who provided some of the content from his firm’s OvertimeLawyer.com page for our use.
Not everyone gets paid on an hourly or salaried basis, so if you earn tips or commissions, you’ll want to check out those pages. Wondering about what counts as work time that you should be paid for? See our “what is ‘work time?‘” page. If you have questions about getting paid for time you’re not working, see our pages on comp time, vacation pay, and meal and rest breaks.
If your pay isn’t what it should be, due to deductions from your paycheck, you’ll want to see our deductions from pay page to see if the deductions are being handled correctly. If you’re not getting paid at all, you’ll definitely be interested in our unpaid wages page. All good things (and even some bad ones too) must come to an end, so if you’re leaving your job, see our final pay page to make sure your last check is squared away properly.
If all else fails, and you’re not being paid what you’re owed, then you’ll need our filing a complaint page, which explains what you’ll need to do if your employer is not following the law.
Armed with the information in the pay and hours section, you can make sure that you are receiving the wages due you for the work you perform each week, and will learn more about what you can do if you aren’t getting paid properly. Unscrupulous employers who do not comply with wage and hour laws can only get away with it if their employees don’t know any better, so educate yourself today on the law!
More Information:
U.S. Department of Labor: Wages Information
Workplace Fairness: State Government Agencies
(contains links to state wage and hour enforcement agencies)
