What Is A Wage And Hour Violation?
Understanding wage and hour law in Ohio can be complicated. Many wage and hour issues in employment are governed by federal law, particularly the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Yet there are also some Ohio laws that provide employees with more benefits than federal law, including minimum wage. Employers in Ohio must abide by all federal laws concerning employee pay, and also must abide by any Ohio laws that provide more protections or benefits to workers than federal laws currently do. Accordingly, any employee who believes that they have not been paid fairly should seek advice from a Columbus wage and hour violation attorney about options.
Wage and hour violations can take many different forms, and our experienced Columbus wage and hour lawyers want to provide you with information about some of the most common types of wage and hour violations in Ohio.
Failure to Pay Minimum Wage
Failure to pay the minimum wage is a common violation of wage and hour laws. While the federal minimum wage is $7.25, employees in Ohio are entitled to the higher Ohio minimum wage. Under Ohio law, the minimum wage is currently $8.80, and it will increase to $9.30 in 2022.
Beyond merely paying an employee the minimum wage, employees should know that employers can be in violation of wage and hour laws if they make deductions from employees’ paychecks that result in the employee being paid less than the required minimum wage. The same is true if the employer requires an employee to perform unpaid “off the clock” work, where the employee’s lack of pay reduces the employee’s overall wages to less than minimum wage.
Unlawful Wage Deductions
Ohio law clarifies the deductions that an employer can lawfully make from an employee’s wages. An employee may be able to hold an employer accountable for any unlawful wage deductions.
Failure to Pay Overtime
When an employee is entitled to overtime pay and does not receive it or is paid the overtime incorrectly, the employee may be able to hold the employer accountable for an FLSA wage violation. Under the FLSA, all nonexempt employees are required to receive overtime pay for any hours they work beyond the 40 hours of a workweek. This includes any work that is being performed “off the clock” unpaid as well. Those overtime hours must be paid at a rate of time and one-half the employee’s regular rate of pay or regular hourly wage. For example, an employee in Columbus who earns $10 per hour and works 45 hours in a workweek would be entitled to the wage of $10 per hour for the first 40 hours of work, and then overtime pay at time and one-half, or $15 per hour, for the remaining 5 hours.
The FLSA does not limit an employee’s weekly hours. Accordingly, if an employee does work overtime hours during a workweek and is both covered by the FLSA and nonexempt, the employee is entitled to overtime wages at time and one-half for hours worked beyond 40 hours.
Contact Our Experienced Columbus Wage and Hour Lawyers
The examples above are just some ways in which wage and hour violations can occur. If you have questions about your rights as an employee under state or federal law, an experienced Columbus wage and hour attorney at our firm can speak with you about your circumstances. Contact Brian G. Miller CO, L.P.A. for more information.
Resource:
codes.ohio.gov/ohio-administrative-code/rule-4101:9-4-07
