As a hard-working employee who always puts your best foot forward on the job, you deserve your fair compensation.
Unfortunately, some workplaces and employers will try to short-change employees, ensuring they do not get their fair share. How do they do this, and what can you do to stop it?
How do companies withhold wages?
Chron discusses the most common ways of short-changing a worker. Typically, employers will do one of six things in order to deprive a worker of their fair pay.
First, they may simply pay less than the state’s legal minimum wage requirements. Second, the employer might refuse to pay overtime. Third, employees might not get fair reimbursement for business expenses that they report. Fourth, the company might not pay an employee for all services they perform. Fifth, employers might wrongly categorize an employee to charge less.
Finally, the sixth way includes intentional actions aimed to deny a person of their fair pay. This can include purposely writing bad checks or refusing to give promotions or bonuses to an employee who rightfully deserves them.
What can you do?
Fortunately, the Fair Labor Standards Act protects employees from unfair wage theft. Note that this act does not secure commissions, pay raises, bonuses, sick pay, holiday pay, vacation pay or severance benefits. These are separate matters.
However, if you have lost out on getting your rightful amount of pay due to the six or more reasons mentioned above, it is possible to take legal action for the wages lost.