Is Your Employer Cheating On Your
Hours?
Problem: Local managers can make their units seem more
profitable - and often earn a higher bonus for themselves - if they keep
payroll costs down. One way to do that is by good management. Another
is by making nonexempt employees work without pay. Is this happening to
you?
Cheating can happen by requiring you to perform some significant work
- or just to wait around - before you clock in, or after you clock out.
The law permits some - but not all - unpaid “preliminary”
and “postliminary” work, so the facts of each situation are
very important. The legal standards are different
in different parts of the country, so location is also very important.
In general, the more time spent, the more likely the employer has to pay
for the time.
Cheating can happen by giving you so much work to do that you routinely
have to work through your unpaid meal breaks, but you are not paid for
the time. Sometimes the company simply clocks everyone out for lunch and
clocks them in again a half hour or hour later without taking into account
whether the employees were working. State laws are often the only remedy.
Cheating can happen by giving you so much work to do that you routinely
have to work through your paid rest breaks. The Fair Labor Standards Act
does not apply to this situation. Some State laws provide a remedy, and
some do not.
Cheating can happen by managers going into time records and falsifying
the reported time. This is a crime in many States, but newspapers have
recently reported that it is frequent in some large retail chains.
This firm will help employees get their proper wages.
Important Information From The Association of
Trial Lawyers of America
 
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