Timing

Broward County’s Wage Theft Ordinance considers employers late if they don’t pay their employees within 14 days. The employee is then required to send written notice to his/her employer about the exact amount of wages due within 60 days from when the wages were due. If the employer doesn’t pay after 15 days, then the employee has up to one year file his/her wage theft claim from when the wages were due to be paid.

Process

Broward County then requires a hearing officer to get involved to preside of the wage theft claim. The hearing officer can issue subpoenas and generally manage the wage theft case through a final hearing.

The Ordinance also seeks to minimize fraudulent claims and defenses. It allows for a hearing officer to require a party to pay $500 or spend 60 days in jail for providing false information.

Award

The Broward County Wage Theft Ordinance allows an employee to recover twice  his/her unpaid/underpaid wages, plus attorneys’ fees and costs. This is different than the Miami-Dade Wage Theft Ordinance, which permits an employee to recover three times his/her wages, but without an award of attorneys’ fees. The ability for an employee to recover his/her attorneys’ fees from an employer will help an employee get justice against an employer who drags out the process when the amount of wages owed is not large.

Enforcement of Award

After the hearing officer determines the amount of the total award, you still may have to go to Court to get an Order to enforce the award.

At the FairLaw Firm, we assist clients in recovering their hard earned wages. Most of our clients hire us on contingency, meaning that we only get paid unless and after our clients get paid. Since we usually seek to have the employer pay our fees, our clients often pay don’t pay us anything. Contact us to receive a free consultation of your wage claim or submit your online claim evaluation now.

If you or someone you know is still getting the “old” minimum wage – or less – then have them contact me at the FairLaw Firm now at (305) 230-4884.

Allowing managers, owners, chefs, expediters, security, or dishwashers to share in the tips received can invalidate the tip credit and entitle all employees to receive the $3.02 that the tips were supposed to cover.

At the FairLaw Firm, we represent employees and independent contractors in claims for unpaid and underpaid minimum wages. We help workers, even if they are paid a weekly salary, when their employer doesn’t keep track of their hours worked, or aren’t reimbursed for employment-related expenses such as wear-and-tear on their cars/trucks/vans, uniforms, cell phones, and the like.

We not only recover your unpaid wages, but we also can recover for you a penalty (liquidated damages) equal to the amount of your unpaid wages (so you get twice what you are owed), plus you are entitled to recover your attorney’s fees and costs from your employer. We handle these cases on contingency, which means that you don’t have to put up any money or pay any attorneys’ fees unless and until we recover a settlement or judgment for you. And it is your decision to settle or now.

The initial consultation is always free, so you have no excuse.

Contact FairLaw Firm now for a Free Case Evaluation.

Paychecks tell a lot about a business. For example, paychecks that fail to contain the number of hours worked, the rate(s) of pay, and the dates covered by the paycheck usually prompt me to investigate the business further to determine not if, but how many pay violations have occurred.

Most employees are entitled to be paid hourly, receive at least a minimum wage for each hour worked, and then get overtime pay calculated at time and one-half of the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

Employees who get paid tips still are entitled to receive at least the current minimum wage (which is now $7.67 per hour) when including tips and at least $4.65 per hour before those tips are included.

Paychecks can be confusing, and sometimes this confusion is by design. Other times, it could be that your employer just didn’t know the law. It may be that your employer does not want you to discover that you were getting underpaid and so you get a confusing paycheck. It could also be that your employer thinks that he/she/it does not have to pay you overtime wages if you are paid a salary.

None of the above scenarios is a reason (or defense) to not having paid you properly. In the end, your employer is not going to come forward on his/her/its own and admit that you were not paid enough and write you a check for the difference. You have the right to be paid properly, on time, and to not be retaliated against for bringing a claim for unpaid/underpaid minimum wages or overtime wages.

At the FairLaw Firm, we understand your situation, strive to keep you advised of your claim, and will give you an honest evaluation of your claim. Our goal is to provide you with the best representation, leading to the maximum result in the shortest amount of time.

Contact us for a free paycheck review and a free initial consultation, or click here to submit your free case evaluation online. (305) 230-4884

Tips are the property of the employee, generally. Servers, bartenders, and others who regularly and customarily receive tips can actually get paid less than minimum wage – $3.02 per hour less than minimum wage to be exact. Payment in this way is called the “tip credit”. But, there are a lot of technicalities involved when your employer pays tipped employees less than minimum wage. If an employer fails in any one area, then the “tip credit” taken could be invalid, and the tipped employee(s) could be entitled to keep the tips and then receive up to the $3.02 per hour that was deducted from their wage.

In order for an employer to get the “tip credit”, employees must be told in advance and they must to receive at least $30.00 per month in tips. Also, the $3.02 per hour that was not paid by the employer must be received in tips so that the tipped employee’s wages are above the hourly minimum wage (now $7.67/hour).

Problems often arise when employers have a “tip pool” and start having managers, cooks, and other employees sharing in the tips when they should not. These type of violations could cause  the entire “tip pool” to be invalid, which can then result in the employer having to pay back to the employees them amounts that each person contributed to the “tip pool” and possibly more.

Tipped employees have rights, and when they band together against an employer, they can not only make a difference, but they can get back the money they earned!

For each violation of the law, there also is the possibility that the employee will recover double damages, plus his/her attorneys’ fees and costs. If you suspect a tip credit problem or tip pool violation, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

At the FairLaw Firm, we know and understand these complicated laws.

Contact us at (305) 230-4884 for a free consultation.

We always respect and appreciate referrals from other lawyers.

Workers have it tough these days – which are not much different than any other day(s). But, there is a bright spot for those who lose their jobs. Courts are now trending towards holding employers to their agreements to NOT contest unemployment benefits. This case serves as an example of the recent trend – in which the First District Court of Appeal just upheld an agreement to NOT contest the former employee’s unemployment claim as a result of a provision in the settlement agreement. The settlement agreement contained the following language:

“Employer/Carrier will not contest Claimant’s application or request for unemployment benefits.”

So, the next time you negotiate a separation as part of a workers’ compensation settlement, think about adding a provision that the employer won’t contest unemployment benefits. Your client(s) will thank you – and the provision just may get a tough deal done.

To discuss how the FairLaw Firm can help out your workers’ compensation claimants by possibly increasing their average weekly wage, contact us.

Employees working in Miami-Dade County who did not get paid their proper wages can use a process outside of the Courts to recover their wages (i.e., combat wage theft). Some in the Florida Legislature tried to ban Cities and/or Counties from enacting wage theft ordinances but, thankfully, this effort failed.

The idea behind Miami-Dade County’s Wage Theft Ordinance is to give employees a quick means of recovering their unpaid wages. To begin the process, you first need to complete this form to provide the basic information about the wages you are owed.

Benefits of the Wage Theft Ordinance include:

1. There are no costs for filing the claim or for serving the claim (This alone can save upwards of $450);
2. The time to respond is quicker than in a lawsuit (15 days vs. 20-25 days);
3. The Miami-Dade County Wage Theft Ordinance allows victorious employees to recover three times their unpaid wages (which makes this remedy enticing for larger wage theft claims).

Drawbacks of the Wage Theft Ordinance include:

1. Other types of claims entitle an employee to recover his or her attorneys’ fees and costs and up to twice the back pay owed, making it enticing for attorneys to pursue relatively small wage theft claims in lawsuits;
2. The law is unsettled about whether a hearing officer can hold a company officer, manager, or supervisor personally liable for violating the Wage Theft Ordinance (other types of claims can involve holding these people personally liable and this factor often helps push other types of claims to settlement); and
3. You still may have to go to Court and file a lawsuit to enforce a Wage Theft decision made by a hearing officer.

To discuss whether it makes sense to proceed with a claim under the Miami-Dade Wage Theft Ordinance, under Florida law, or under the Fair Labor Standards Act, you can contact Brian H. Pollock at the FairLaw Firm for a free consultation at 305.230.4884. Your inquiry will remain confidential, and most unpaid/underpaid wage claims are handled on contingency.

Recently, the Department of Labor obtained a decision from a federal court in New York in Solis vs. Cindy’s Total Care, Inc. in which the Court ruled that evidence of immigration status was irrelevant to employees’ claims for overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In particular, the Cour held that, “The Act contains no exception or exclusion for persons who are not U.S. citizens or who are in this country illegally.”

While this is not the first decision in which a Court determined that immigration status was irrelevant, this decision can be seen as part of a growing trend towards focusing on the “real” issues in FLSA cases and not allowing employers to get away with wage theft.

Recently the Department of Labor obtained a judgment against Cindy’s to recover $236,000 in back wages and penalties.

The FairLaw Firm stays current on decisions involving overtime wages, minimum wages, and unpaid wages in order to help employees combat wage theft. For a free consultation, call the FairLaw Firm at (305) 230-4884 or click here for a free case evaluation.

In-home health care workers are currently exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). This means that they are not entitled to receive at least a minimum wage or overtime pay. But things may be changing. In December of 2011, the Obama administration announced that it wanted to expand the overtime and minimum wage protections to home health care workers. For Florida, this would impact approximately 31,000 home health aides.

The FairLaw Firm is carefully monitoring the status of the proposed changes. The Department of Labor has issued its statement on the extent of the proposed changes here. We are happy to discuss the impact of the proposed changes and hope to be positioned to assist home health care workers if and when the changes are implemented.

We have a free online case evaluation form which can be submitted confidentially, while we can easily be contacted by phone or email.

My office gets contacted by employees who receive letters from the Department of Labor saying that they are owed back wages. These back wages are usually underpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime pay. While I respect the Department of Labor and those in the local offices with whom I have spoken on matters, especially for the overall good done for workers, the Department of Labor has the ability to recover back wages, but not penalties, attorneys’ fees and costs. My office, however, can recover back wages, penalties, attorneys’ fees, and costs.

Just the other day, I got a call from someone who used to work for Willow – which became Arise – a company that did reservations for Disney World. Unfortunately, the former employee was notified too late to do anything. Employees usually have two, sometimes three years, to bring a claim for unpaid overtime. Waiting too long can result in employees giving up the right to make a claim.

If you received a letter from the Department of Labor about your entitlement to unpaid wages, then don’t settle for less. You do not have to accept the amount offered to you; you can decide to sue the employer – and possible recover more money on your own.

Submit a free online case evaluation or contact the FairLaw Firm for a free consultation to discuss your claim.

I have assistant managers contact me to ask whether they are entitled to overtime pay. They explain that they don’t make decisions about hiring or firing other employees, don’t set schedules, and don’t have the ability to suspend or reprimand other employees. They perform job duties that are almost identical to everyone around them, except for a few minutes a day when they might have to “manage” the other employees (who do get paid overtime). They are called “assistant managers” and paid a salary, but don’t get overtime wages. In short, they are misclassified.

Companies misclassify their employees to avoid paying them overtime. This practice is not isolated to small businesses, to restaurants, nor to retail stores. Not only do smaller companies do this to their employees, but some of the largest employers in this country have been accused of misclassifying their employees – and then most of these larger companies have settled those claims.

If you think that you are or were misclassified – and that you spend most of your time doing what your fellow employees are doing but are called an “assistant manager” and not paid overtime, then contact the FairLaw Firm for a free consultation or submit a free case evaluation form and my firm will get back to you.