As an employee, you might never have questioned whether your employer was paying you as they should. Even if you thought they don’t pay as much as some others, the thought that they were stealing your wages may never have crossed your mind.
That, in a nutshell, is how employers often get away with paying their employees less than what they are owed. Employees simply do not suspect it is happening.
It’s usually subtle
An employer knows that if they knock a few hundred dollars off your weekly paycheck, you’d notice right away. They tend to be more subtle about it. If they do this to multiple employees and for a considerable time, it can add up to a large amount of money.
It’s often a case of a few minutes here or there. For instance, a general contractor might tell their workers to pick up tools at 8:58 a.m. when they are contracted to work from 9:00 a.m. An event venue manager might tell an employee that they just need to finish this task before they can break for lunch, leaving them 23 minutes for lunch instead of the required 30.
Employers are often allowed to let employees make up the time they took from them later. However, they must respect the overtime pay rules. If extra hours take an employee into overtime territory, the employer must pay the overtime rate (which starts at one and a half times the usual rate) or give “time in lieu” at that same rate. So, one hour of overtime requires one and a half hours time in lieu.
Failing to meet California’s minimum wage
Another trick some employers use is to pay below the minimum wage. Vulnerable populations, such as migrants, are often on the receiving end of this because employers think they’ll either not know the correct minimum wage or be too scared to speak up. They might, for instance, pay the federal minimum wage when what they must pay is the higher California minimum wage.
Not all wage theft is intentional. Some employers make genuine mistakes when it comes to wages. Regardless, as an employee, you have the right to have such anomalies resolved. If your employer won’t do it voluntarily, you may want to consider legal guidance to explore your options.