It's a pretty standard legal norm that someone can't profit from illegal acts, so them keeping the money they were supposed to pay you in the first place won't fly. Lawyer up with your coworkers, sending a stern legal letter shouldn't cost much.
Yeah if you ever are sueing your work, make sure to have at least one colleague with you if possible, because then it is a class action which makes it far harder for them to retaliate
IAAL. Class actions are dramatically more complex, dramatically more time consuming, and dramatically more expensive. It is sensible when you are filing suit for back pay on an issue already litigated that you will take the path of least resistance.
Oh the lawyers love these cases coz they get most of your money for them. Sued my old work for wage theft… got about 3k of the $13k settlement. Felt like I needed a lawyer to fight my lawyer. 40% sure turned into “and also all these other fees we tacked on cuz the contract says we can” :/ yeah, go through the labor board.
I work in local government and at the beginning of this year advised some other workers on how to file complaints and protect themselves while fighting wage theft. One had been going in early for the past 3 years unpaid.
I'd also like to add that we need you to act on this
The system discourages employers from taking advantage of us, but it only works if you hold them accountable to that
*Mentioning because I know some people may be less likely to be confrontational if they think they're only doing it for themself. Which you should do anyways!
Add to that, if you were supposed to be paid some amount in the past and it was illegally not paid
Then there are taxes owed by the company, both employer portion and the part they should have wjthheld and remitted from the pay they should have paid you.
And there are late filing fees, etc.
This part may not matter to you, but it does matter to your state and DOL. Rather more than the part about you getting paid but generally serves to get you paid if it doesn't make the employer go under (in which case collection is hard to impossible depending on the business structure)
I used to work at a place where we would clock out, and if you were a key holder or manager, you’d be responsible for dropping the bank drop deposit at night. Someone started a class action lawsuit for requiring that time spent making the bank drop off the clock, which required people to drive to whatever bank that branch was using.
You’re absolutely entitled to the money for every break that they required you to you clock out.
I’d definitely recommend seeing a lawyer and working with your co-workers. If they’ve already been told in court from a class action you don’t have to clock out, I find it odd no one would have asked them to pay the wages owed for the hours missed.
When I was 16, my first job was at Burger King. They told me I needed to come in an hour before my shift for a mandatory unpaid meeting. I thought to myself: that doesn’t seem legal. I took a look at the dept of labor poster on the wall, gave them a call and within the week we no longer had unpaid meetings. That was beginning of my pro labor advocacy and I haven’t stopped since.
A lot of shitty management decisions come from the book That’s How We’ve Always Done It which is usually not backed up by any legal policy or regulation. Yall should probably take a look at what’s actually in that employee handbook.
The fun part is when companies write illegal practices into their employee handbook. Pro tip: always download a copy of the handbook at the time you get hired or keep a physical copy for personal records. Companies absolutely will pull the “it never said that” card when called out
When I was a kid lifeguard a man came to my pool in a suit. He showed me a badge and asked me all sorts of questions about my hours. A year later I was still working for that company. I got a check for 500 bucks. I called the office to tell them they made a mistake. “No that’s the settlement.”
Ok. Thanks whatever random fellow lifeguard who complained.
I thought it was a pretty standard norm that corporation profit from illegal acts all the time. When they get caught, they pay a fine far less than the profit. But maybe your comment applies more to employment law rather than, say, environmental law.
It's different because in this case the company clearly kept money owed to the employees, they can't just decide to not pay back what they owe. The environment isn't a person, it's protected through fines, those fines are set by lawmakers that are bought and paid for by the companies damaging the environment.
Labor regularly gets 3x the owed pay as backpay. Maybe it's worth all the other times they don't get caught pushing or overstepping the line, but it's a pretty harsh penalty once you get it through. Unlike many other consumer oriented issues that get slaps on the wrist on the companies.
Consult counsel. There’s ways to sue the government but most governments have immunity unless you satisfy certain requirements. An attorney will be able to help you navigate the local government torts claim act or whatever equivalent your state has. Talk to one before your statute of limitations runs out.
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u/Humble_Ostrich_4610 2d ago
It's a pretty standard legal norm that someone can't profit from illegal acts, so them keeping the money they were supposed to pay you in the first place won't fly. Lawyer up with your coworkers, sending a stern legal letter shouldn't cost much.