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Read our Latest Blog Posts
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Worker Privacy Rights: Biometrics
Beyond the right to be paid and paid fairly, workers have many other rights that are provided and protected by statutes, regulations, and court precedent. For example, under safety statutes and regulations, workers have a right to work in an environment that is reasonably safe and hazard-free. Likewise, workers have a right to work in […]
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Common Wage Theft Schemes
Illegal Wage Theft: Four Common Schemes Illegal wage theft happens when employees do not get ALL of their earned wages. As reported in Teen Vogue and GQ Magazine, studies have shown that millions of workers suffer some form of wage theft every year. A 2017 study estimated the number to be 2.4 million workers for […]
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Connecticut Enacts New Pay Equity Law
Pay Equity Laws are a Growing Trend Among States Generally, in the United States, your employer must pay the same compensation — including wages/salary, benefits and bonuses — for the same work regardless of gender, race, age, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability or other protected characteristics. These general protections for […]
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Illinois Punishes Wage Theft
Wage theft by employers is illegal. Wage theft is prohibited by federal law and several states have enacted additional state laws that are designed to further prevent and stop wage theft. Employers can and are punished for engaging in wage theft, even if the wage theft is “accidental.” Wage theft is illegal in all 50 […]
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Have You Been Misclassified as “Exempt” from Overtime? You May be Entitled to Backpay.
Overtime Pay is Generally Required Under federal labor laws, most employees are entitled to be paid the federal minimum wage (which is currently $7.25 an hour). Furthermore, most employees are entitled to be paid overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week (your employer cannot avoid paying overtime by merely paying workers […]
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Discretionary vs. Non-Discretionary Bonuses: It Matters for Calculating Overtime
Calculating Overtime Pay If you received any sort of bonus payment from your employer, it is possible that your employer failed to pay you the correct amount of overtime. It is common for employers to incorrectly calculate an employee’s rate of pay for purposes of calculating overtime pay. When calculating an employee’s overtime rate, all […]
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What is a Private Right of Action?
What is a Private Right of Action? A “private right of action” is a legal term meaning that an individual rather than a governmental agency has the right to bring a lawsuit to prosecute and punish violation of rights conferred by a statute. Having a private right of action is important to workers. It means […]
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Calculating Overtime Pay (Part II): “Reimbursements” May Increase Overtime
Calculating Overtime Pay – “Reimbursements” Under federal labor laws, workers are entitled to receive overtime pay of “time-and-a-half” for any overtime hours they work (i.e. hours over 40 in a week). Calculating overtime pay is based on the employee’s regular rate of pay. Sometimes, the overtime rate calculation is straightforward. For example, if an employee […]
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Calculating Overtime Pay for Restaurant Workers and Others
Calculating Overtime Pay The federal Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued a letter providing guidance for employers with respect to calculating overtime payments. Generally, federal law requires time-and-a-half for any hours worked beyond 40 hours in a seven-day workweek. But calculating what is owed for overtime pay can be complicated because an employee might have […]
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Gig Workers Win Again
Gig Workers Employees Win Again Gig workers won another major victory, this time in the United Kingdom. As discussed in a prior post, courts across the United States are finding that gig workers are “employees” and are not independent contractors. Similar to these recent rulings from courts across the United States, the UK Supreme Court […]
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Employer’s Good Faith Defense Fails
“Good Faith” Defense to Wage and Overtime Claims All employees have a right to be paid for the work they do and are entitled to the protections of all state and federal labor laws. For example, employers must pay the prevailing minimum wage, must pay overtime when required and must pay the correct overtime rate. […]
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Gig Workers: You Might Really be Employees
Employers try to misclassify gig workers as independent contractors to avoid compliance with wage and overtime laws. However, all across the country, gig workers are being protected more and more by courts and state laws. This is good news. For years, employers have been illegally misclassifying gig workers as independent contractors to avoid paying minimum […]
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Amazon to Pay $61.7 Million to Settle Wage Theft Case
Amazon Wage Theft Wage theft is unlawful and happens more often than employees would imagine. Worse still, employers engage in wage theft intentionally and, often, purposely conceal their wage theft and lie about it when challenged. A case in point is Amazon, which has just agreed to settle a wage theft investigation by the Federal […]
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Employee Rights: Retaliation is Unlawful
Workplace Retaliation is Unlawful Did you exercise your rights as an employee only to have your boss retaliate against you? If this has happened to you, your employer can be held liable for money damages and other punishments. Employer retaliation is unlawful. If you think your employer has retaliated against you, you should contact the […]
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Which State’s Labor Laws Apply?
Am I protected by my State’s Labor Laws? One reason that it is important to seek legal counsel from attorneys that are dedicated to employees’ rights, like those at Herrmann Law, is that it is not always clear which state labor laws apply. In this increasingly interconnected world, and now that many more employees are […]
