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Do You Need a Wage Attorney?

  • Does your employer owe you unpaid wages?

  • Did your boss fail to pay you overtime?
  • Does your employer pay less than the minimum wage?
  • Is your job in jeopardy because you insisted that your employer pay you for the time you worked?

The Fair Labor Standards Act provides remedies for employees who have unpaid wages from their employers, and punishes the employers who refuse to pay. Even if the amount of underpayment for an individual is small, underpaid employees may work together to make sure employers pay attention to overtime laws. Employees are entitled to be properly paid for every hour worked, and under the FLSA, employees can ensure that employers don’t take advantage of workers who may find it difficult to bring a legal action on their own.

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The attorneys at The Employment Law Group® law firm are experienced in representing employees in wage payment cases, and has obtained back wages and other restitution for hundreds of underpaid workers.

TELG won a favorable decision from a federal Court in Maryland, granting retaliation protections to employees who were paid in commissions based on sales, even if they were not entitled to overtime. TELG has successfully stopped efforts by employers who engaged in abusive and threatening behavior in order to dissuade plaintiffs from moving forward with their claims. TELG has won decisions that allow similarly situated employees to combine their claims to form a stronger case against an employer. And TELG has won a decision that allowed those forced to work unpaid overtime to go to trial against their former employer.

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Important statutes in this area of law:

Notable TELG cases in this area of law:

  • Randolph v. PowerComm Construction, Inc

    After learning that the defendants had threatened the plaintiffs if they did not opt out of the class action suit, TELG successfully argued that all of the opt-out agreements should be invalidated.

  • Sharer v. Tandberg, Inc.

    Sharer and Law, bother former employees of Tandberg who were suing the company for unpaid and lost wages, were granted leave by the Court to contact other potential collective action members whose wages the company may have unlawfully withheld.

  • Randolph v. ADT Security Services, Inc.

    The anti-retaliation provision of the FLSA applied even if employees were not entitled to overtime but held a reasonable, good faith belief that they had been misclassified as commissions based employees.

  • MacGregor v. Farmers Insurance Exchange

    A federal judge denied defendants’ motion for summary judgment, permitting Mr. MacGregor and his colleagues to take claims arising under the FLSA to trial.

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FLSA allows employees to receive back wages for up to two years. The law also enforces penalties on employers who improperly classify their employees as “exempt.” Depending on the violation involved, the law may also provide “liquidated damages” and criminal penalties.

As with all legal claims, deadlines are crucial. The FLSA has a two-year statute of limitations. This means you can claim up to two years of unpaid or underpaid wages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is covered by the overtime laws?

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“the FLSA”) non-exempt employees are entitled to time-and-a-half compensation, and the FLSA makes it illegal for an employer to withhold overtime pay from a non-exempt employee who works over 40 hours in a workweek. This means that any overtime worked in a particular workweek must be paid on the pay day covering the same pay period in which the overtime hours were worked.

Can I Waive my rights under the FLSA?

No. Under the FLSA an employee cannot waive their rights. So, when an employer strikes a deal with an employee allowing the employee to work off the clock for tips or for some other purposes, the employer still has to pay wages. The FLSA doesn’t let employers take advantage of employees in this manner because it would be so easy for an employer to just claim “he just wanted to work a little more for free.” The rule is that if the employer allows you to work, you have to get paid for all of the time you worked.

What remedies are available under the FLSA?

There are Remedies for Unpaid Overtime or Nonpayment of Wages under the FLSA, employees may file a private suit against their employer for unpaid overtime or minimum wage violations. In addition, FLSA enforces penalties on those employers who improperly classify their employees as “exempt.” Congress intended the FLSA’s remedies to deter violations as well as to compensate employees for underpaid work and consequently, depending on the violation involved, provide both “liquidated damages” and criminal penalties.

Violations of minimum wage and overtime payment requirements of the FLSA can lead to substantial paydays for underpaid or unpaid employees. Employees are entitled to be properly paid for every hour worked, and under the FLSA’s liquidated damages provision wage differentials are almost always doubled to compensate the employee up to $2 for every $1 that was not paid to them on a timely basis. Finally, a prevailing employee is entitled to recover their reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, so that the employer, not the employee, pays for the employee’s legal services.

Does it make a difference what state I live in?

While the FLSA regulates much of employment law on the federal level, other states, including Maryland and Virginia, may have additional or different laws governing wage and hour issues.