Labor Law Violations

Fight Labor Law Violations with Labor Law Lawyers

Labor law violations can show up in a variety of ways in the workplace, but no matter how they show up, they’re unlawful.

When you put in the time, dedication, and effort, but get workplace exploitation and unpaid wages in return, it’s not only financially damaging, it’s also deeply upsetting.

At Consumer Justice Law Firm, we don’t just help enforce your legal rights to end labor law violations, we help protect your career and reputation, get the money you’re rightfully owed, fight for compensation for harm you suffered, and reclaim your personal power.

What Are Labor Law Violations?

Labor law violations are workplace situations in which someone with decision-making authority (usually an owner) or supervisory authority (usually a manager or supervisor) violates employee rights when it comes to wages, overtime, breaks, leave, safety, and more.

Labor law violations are unlawful and those responsible for committing them can be help accountable under federal and state laws.

10 Common Types of Labor Law Violations

Unfortunately, there is a seemingly endless variety of ways that labor law violations can show up in the workplace. These ten are the most common:

  1. Unpaid Wages and Wage Theft– you aren’t paid at your agreed hourly rate or aren’t paid at all for shifts or hours worked. This can also include unpaid bonuses and other compensation.
  2. Unpaid Overtime Hours– you aren’t paid for overtime hours worked or your overtime hours aren’t paid at overtime rates
  3. Minimum Wage Violations– your regular hours worked aren’t paid at the required minimum wage
  4. Tip Theft and Unpaid Tips– tips are inappropriately kept, stolen, shared, used, or incorrectly credited toward minimum wage obligations
  5. Unpaid Off-the-Clock Time– you’re asked to work or perform tasks during unpaid breaks or days off, or before or after work hours, or to attend unpaid trainings and meetings
  6. Misclassification of Employees– you’re misclassified as salaried or exempt to avoid paying you overtime
  7. Illegal Paycheck Deductions– your regular pay or overtime pay is illegally docked
  8. Unsafe Conditions– you’re put at risk by an employer ignoring health and safety standards
  9. Unjust Break or Leave Refusals– you’re denied lunch breaks, rest breaks, or leave under FMLA
  10. Retaliation- you’re subjected to additional mistreatment for speaking up about violations or attempting to enforce your rights

Check out The Consumer Justice Blog for more articles and information about different topics impacting labor and employment law.

What is the Fair Labor Standards Act?

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that falls under the U.S. Department of Labor. It gives employees certain rights and places certain obligations on employers, all in the name of helping to create and maintain fairness in wage practices and employee treatment.

The FLSA specifically deals with things like minimum wage, overtime, tips, regulation of hours worked, recordkeeping, child labor restrictions, leave and break requirements and more.

While the scope of the Fair Labor Standards Act doesn’t cover every labor law violation, it is an incredibly useful law when it comes to building the best possible cases and getting the best possible outcomes for you.

Your Rights Under the FLSA

Some of the key employee rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act are:

  • Minimum Wage: eligible employees cannot be paid less than the federal minimum wage. In addition, approximately 60% of the states have a state-level minimum wage that is higher than the federal minimum.
  • Overtime Pay: eligible employees must be paid at an overtime rate for every hour worked over 40 hours in one week. The overtime rate is 1.5 time the employee’s regular rate, also called “time and a half.”
  • Hours Worked: employees must be paid for all time in which they’re expected to be working, on the premises, on-call, etc. Depending on circumstances, this can include time spent waiting, in meetings and trainings, etc.
  • Recordkeeping: employers have to keep accurate records of employee hours, wages, overtime, etc.
  • Child Labor: various restrictions exist to limit the hours that minors work and their exposure to potential risks

State labor laws also play a significant role in shaping your rights as a worker.

How Labor Law Violations Harm You

When an employer exploits you, steals from you, or cheats you, it can have huge consequences in your life.

  • Financial Loss or Hardship. It doesn’t matter how hard you work or how many hours you work if you’re not getting paid what you earned. Debts and unpaid bills can pile up, and even basic necessities can be out of reach.
  • Mental and Emotional Distress. When you’re subject to exploitation and wage abuse, your mental wellbeing plummets. This can show up as anxiety, depression, sleeplessness, physical ailments, family stress, and more.
  • Job Loss. At any phase of your career, unjust firing decisions can completely derail you, especially when you suspect the decision was retaliatory or done to avoid paying wages, overtime, and tips that were rightfully owed or because you asked for a legally protected leave.
  • False promotions. If your employer pretends that you’ve been promoted to a salaried position but it’s actually the same position you had as an hourly employee or is equivalent to other hourly positions, you’re likely being exploited to work more hours without getting overtime pay you deserve.
  • Employer Retaliation or Targeting. When you stand up for yourself and insist on fair pay, safety, breaks, and leave, it can make mistreatment worse.
  • Workplace Isolation. Whether it’s planned or simply the result of ongoing mistreatment, many workers subject to labor violations experience isolation from colleagues, clients, choice assignments, and more.
A collage of images show workers in various industries. It conveys Consumer Justice Law Firm's dedication to fighting labor law violations.

3 Steps To Fight Labor Law Violations

While it’s not likely that your unlawful workplace situation will disappear overnight, these three steps will set you on a path to ending labor law violations, fighting for justice, and repairing the damage that’s already been done.

STEP 1

Trust Your Gut and Document Everything: From the first incident or red flag moment when you realize something isn’t right, start keeping detailed notes. Include dates, names, summaries of what was said or done, specific quotes or phrases (if possible), and witnesses.

Print emails, pay statements, HR policies, communications, meeting notes, or any other relevant documents that can support your position or potentially serve as evidence of wrongdoing.

STEP 2

Discuss the Situation with a Supervisor or HR. Your workplace should have a policy about how to escalate labor law violation complaints internally. It is important to follow these steps to make sure you’re in compliance with the policy.

This step also gives your employer a chance to investigate and put an end to the labor law violation.

Note that if your employer wants you to sign anything after you’ve stood up for yourself or filed a formal complaint, we strongly recommend talking to a labor law lawyer prior to signing.

Also, if you do not feel safe or have other concerns about this step, talk to a lawyer for advice on how to proceed.

STEP 3

Talk to an Labor Law Lawyer. If your situation isn’t resolved to your satisfaction, your complaint is ignored, the violations are ongoing or stop briefly but later restart, escalate to a new level, or you face retaliation, you should consult a lawyer.

The next step may involve filing an official complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or some other type of legal intervention.

At any step in this process, getting a free consultation from a labor law lawyer is the best bet for a personalized recovery action plan.

What Does a Top Labor Law Lawyer Do?

Whether it’s retail, food and restaurant services, hospitality, healthcare, education, business services, delivery services, ride share services, and more, workers in hourly jobs play an enormous role in keeping our economy and our lives moving smoothly.

The lawyers at Consumer Justice Law Firm make sure hard working people are protected, treated fairly, and paid every single dollar that they’re owed.

Here’s how a labor law lawyer helps you:

  1. We know the law. Labor law can be complex, involving federal, state, and local rights about every aspect of your position, including minimum wage, overtime pay, health and safety, breaks and leaves, and more.
  2. We know the problems. We’ve seen, heard, and handled every type of exploitative and thieving employer practice and policy, and put our full knowledge and resources into everything we do.
  3. We know the tricks. We know the tactics used by employers to delay or avoid their legal obligations. They’d rather threaten, punish, or ignore you. We know how to get their attention.
  4. We provide legal guidance. We help you identify and gather evidence, documents, witnesses, and more, to provide personalized guidance at every step.
  5. We know the right state and federal agencies. When you need to file formal complaints, we guide you through the process.
  6. We file a lawsuit. We know when it’s time to file a labor law violations lawsuit to hold bad employers accountable.
  7. We get you money. If you’ve been harmed by labor law violations and you’re entitled to compensation, our labor law lawyers know how to maximize it.
You Should Know

General attorneys know how to research labor law violations, but the knowledge that comes from actually fighting these violations every day can’t be replaced by research.

If you work with Consumer Justice Law Firm, the answer to this is simple. It costs you nothing out of pocket. From your FREE consultation all the way through to the resolution of your claim, whether it involves formal regulatory filings, lawsuits or anything else, you don’t pay us a dine up front or out of pocket.

Check out our practice areas to see all the ways that we can help, whether you’re dealing with a labor law problem or a consumer law problem. Our experience is your best protection.

No Justice, No Fee.TM

Frequently Asked Questions

Does labor law protect my tips as well?

Yes. If you work for tips, there are laws regarding how your employer can handle, share, and disperse tips. Of course, if you work for tips, you also know that there are numerous ways that employers try to skim, scam, and avoid paying fair tips, so stay alert.

Laws around tips are  determined by the Fair Labor Standards Act and state-specific laws. But in general, your employer is not usually allowed to do things like:

  1. keep a percentage of the tips for themselves (except possibly for charge fees on credit card tips)
  2. split pooled tips with staff not typically tipped in the course of their job (like kitchen staff)
  3. fail to pay you an amount in addition to your tips so that you are earning an amount at least equivalent to the applicable minimum wage
  4. fail to pay you overtime based on a the full minimum wage (not your base wage before tips)

Which job has the most wage and hour violations?

Wage and hour violations can show up in any position that is not salaried. So whether you’re working in a high incidence industry  or not, you’re vulnerable and need to be aware of your rights.

However, statistically speaking, the industries with the greatest number of wage and hour or overtime violations in a given year are food service, retail, home care, custodial services, and construction.

If you’re within one of these specific industries, it’s healthy to be aware of the fact that it is especially susceptible to this kind of wage exploitation.

Can a labor law violations lawyer help with severance negotiation?

Yes! We help clients with this all the time. Negotiating for severance can be a tricky topic, no matter what circumstances you’re leaving under. But this is especially true if you’re leaving under strained or adversarial circumstances.

We’re able to help by reviewing the full context of your departure, analyzing the severance terms proposed, looking at the industry-wide standards, and considering your professional achievements, years of employment, and perceived performance throughout.

FREE consultations! We only get paid when we win. No Justice, No Fee.TM