I have been working for a year at the same place and have been getting paid incorrectly, is there anything I can do about it?
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I have been working for a year at the same place and have been getting paid incorrectly, is there anything I can do about it?
For 1 year, I have been working at the same restaurant. I was working 54 hours and only getting paid for 38 hours. Recently, less than 2 weeks ago, I spoke to my boss about the issue, because he wanted everyone to pay the chip boy extra money out of our pocket on Fridays. He then cut my hours to 40 hours. This past Friday, he told me “If you want to work like a white boy, you’ll only be working now 20-25 hours a week.” Now, my schedule is down from 54 hours to 26 hours a week. Is there anything I can do about this?
Asked on October 27, 2011 under Employment Labor Law, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You can sue. You should speak with an employment law attorney immediately, because you might have a good lawsuit (assuming you have evidence of what you have written about):
1) If you are an hourly employee, you must be paid for all hours worked--so from what you write, you've been shorted 16 hours per week of pay.
2) As an hourly employee, you must get overtime for all hours worked in a week past 40--so hours 41 - 54 should have been at time and a half.
If the above went on for a year, you have basically been shorted the equivalanet (including overtime) of around 1,150 hours of pay (the equivalent of over 20 hours per week).
3) If you have suffered negative consequences because you complained about not eging paid the proper wages, that may be illegal, too.
4) If you have suffered negative consequences because of your race, that is illegal.
In short, you may have a worthwhile lawsuit.
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