Unpaid Wages Attorney Cleveland, Ohio
If you have an employment contract, it will contain provisions related to how you will be compensated.
At least one of the terms of the contract will be the hourly wage or annual salary an employer agrees to pay their employee. Typically, the contract will have much more to say about pay, especially if the person taking the job is eligible to earn overtime, bonuses, paid leave or commissions.
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) dictates that employees must receive at least minimum wage for all hours worked. It also defines whether you are exempt or non-exempt, meaning whether you should receive overtime pay or not.
What happens when an employer refuses to pay the contracted amount it has promised to pay you? What happens if an employer refuses to pay minimum wage? This, unfortunately, happens far too often. When it does, an unpaid employee has the legal right to file a lawsuit to enforce the terms of his or her employment contract. An employee can also seek back wages if he/she has not been paid minimum wage for all hours worked. Should several people who worked for the same employer find themselves denied payments due to them in a contract or minimum wage, they can join together in a class action or collective action lawsuit.
Employees can go to court to demand the following and other types of legally and contractually obligated payments from employers:
- The minimum wage under the FLSA and the state laws of Ohio
- Prevailing wages for unionized skilled tradespeople and laborers under state and local laws in Ohio
- Earned overtime, even if the employee receives tips
- Earned bonuses and commissions, as set by the employment contract
Note that both employees and contracted employees have rights to demand unpaid wages. Even though contractors may not qualify for minimum wage and overtime protections, they do have undeniable rights to hold employers to the agreements made regarding pay and other forms of compensation.
Working with an unpaid wages attorney will help a cheated worker recover the money owed to him or her. Employers fight hard to hold on to essential types of evidence like timesheets, payroll records and correspondence between management. An experienced employee rights lawyer will know how to force an employer to turn over those materials.
The unpaid wage attorneys in the Cleveland offices of The Friedmann Firm welcome opportunities to hold employers accountable for underpaying workers. If you think you have a case, call us at 440.703.8550 to schedule a confidential consultation.
We also take appointments online through this contact form. We have other offices in Columbus and are prepared to help employees anywhere in Ohio.
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