Watertown Wage And Hour Claims Lawyer
Both federal and state laws put many protections into place for employees in New York to ensure they work in safe environments that remain free from discrimination and harassment, and that they earn a fair wage for their day’s labor. Workers in New York have the right to expect at least the current minimum hourly wage as well as time and a half for all overtime hours beyond a standard 40-hour work week. Despite the limitations of the federal government’s reach, New York’s own 2011 Wage Theft Prevention Act provides more extensive coverage to New York workers. If an employer unlawfully withholds any of the money that you’ve rightfully earned– whether, accidental or intentional– they are not adhering to the wage laws. This could mean you have a strong case for a claim. With the help of the Watertown employment legal team at Gattuso & Ciotoli, PLLC, you could win back withheld wages and overtime pay, plus interest.
If you’ve noticed you aren’t receiving all of the money owed to you by your employer according to state and federal laws, contact our Watertown office today so we can help make things right.
An Often Subtle Form of Thievery
When an employer doesn’t pay you everything they owe you for your hours, it’s a form of theft. They are effectively keeping your money and misappropriating it as profit. Americans lose more money to wage theft than they do to robbery or burglary according to reports — an amount in the billions annually. Though payroll mistakes sometimes occur legitimately, in many instances the failure to pay the amount owed is no mistake, it’s subtle thievery that many workers fail to notice, but which quickly adds up to a significant amount. Common ways employers disguise wage theft include:
- Asking employees to work off the clock or take work home
- Paying less than the current minimum wage
- Paying a salary that calculates as less than minimum wage when divided by the number of hours the employee’s workload requires
- Misclassifying employees as exempt (a status applied only to executives, administrators, independent contractors, and certain computer-related positions such as programmers and systems analysts)
- Not paying out on earned commissions
- Avoiding overtime by asking employees to limit breaks or work through lunch breaks
- Withholding illegal paycheck deductions
- Withholding pay an employer earned for any reason, even temporarily
It’s important to carefully track your hours and review your pay stub to be sure you aren’t the victim of wage theft. Everyone deserves to make the pay they’ve earned for their hours of hard work.
Why Choose Our Firm For Your Wage and Hour Claim?
At Gattuso & Ciotoli, PLLC, we have 50 years of combined litigation experience in all areas of wage and hour law as well as other employment law in New York. We have the resources, skills, and reputation to help you recover your lost wages plus interest. With our client-centered process and contingency-based fees, you don’t have to worry about our payment collection until we’ve secured your substantial compensation with a settlement or verdict.
Contact us today so we can begin to evaluate your case and start working on your claim for fair compensation for fair work.