Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Large corporations have developed a reputation for cutting costs by cheating their employees out of wages. Everything from forcing employees to work off the clock to misclassifying them as exempt from overtime has become common practice in corporate America.
Despite the fact these practices are against the law, companies often get away with treating their employees this way because many employees simply don’t know their rights under the law. Others don’t want to get in trouble with their employer. This is why wage and hour lawsuits are often filed by former employees, despite the fact the law prohibits retaliation from employers.
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires employers conducting business in the United States to pay all their hourly workers no less than $7.25 per hour. It also mandates that employees be paid one and one-half times their normal hourly rate for all overtime. Overtime is defined as any time spent working after eight hours a day or forty hours a week.
In addition to the FLSA, each state has their own laws regulating things like minimum wage, overtime, and break time. In California, the minimum wage is set at $9.00 per hour, and employers are required to provide hourly workers with breaks throughout the day. Continue reading ›