Entrepreneurship content sometimes dysphemistically refers to work as trading hours for dollars, usually in the context that there is only so much of it that one person can do in a lifetime. If you want to make the big bucks, you will have to find a way to earn passive income, and then they go on to make earning passive income sound much easier than it is.
For most of us, work is a reality; we will remain in the workforce for as long as our health allows. The law requires that employers compensate workers for their work with fair pay. Therefore, with few exceptions, employers must pay workers at least the legal minimum wage. In some circumstances, they must also pay the overtime rate, which is 1.5 times the hourly wage that the worker usually earns.
Pay disputes are among the most common types of complaints that employment lawyers hear; of all the unfair things about the work environment in Alabama and in the United States, workers feel the pain most acutely in their wallets, even when they patiently bear the slights of a hostile work environment. The wage and overtime lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys in Hunstville can help you resolve disputes with your employer about payment.
Is It Ever Legal for Employers in Alabama to Pay Less Than Federal Minimum Wage?
How much does Alabama law require employers to pay workers? Not much. Federal law sets a minimum wage, and states have the right to set a higher statewide minimum wage or to follow the federal rule. Alabama abides by the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which has not changed since 2009, even though almost everything has become exponentially more expensive since then. Therefore, employees and independent contractors who get paid by the hour have the right to an hourly wage of at least $7.25 per hour.
In some circumstances, it is legal for employers to pay less than the federal minimum wage. These are the situations where it is legal for Alabama employers to pay workers less than $7.25 per hour:
- If employees receive tips as part of their expected compensation, the employer can pay them $2.13 per hour. If the employee’s pay for the shift, including tips, amounts to less than $7.25 per hour, the employee must cover the difference so that the compensation the employee gets for that shift equals $7.25 per hour. This rule applies only where tips are a substantial amount of the workers’ pay, not every coffee shop and nail salon where there is a tip jar. In practice, restaurant servers are the only workers who get $2.13 per hour.
- If the employee is less than 20 years old when he or she starts the job, the employer can pay as little as $4.25 per hour during the employee’s first 90 days of work.
- If the employee is a full-time student, the employer can pay less than the minimum wage. The law does not specify the new minimum amount that the employer must pay.
When are Workers Entitled to Overtime Pay?
If there is any upside to working long hours for an hourly rate, it is that, in weeks where you work more than 40 hours, your employer must pay you 1.5 times your usual wage for each hour you work, beginning with the 41st hour. The amount is calculated based on the hourly wage you earn, not on the federal minimum wage. In other words, if you earn $20 per hour, then your overtime pay rate is $30 per hour.
Overtime laws do not apply to seasonal jobs. For example, if you work at a Christmas tree stand or a gift-wrapping kiosk at the mall during the Christmas holidays, or a firework stand leading up to the Fourth of July, your job lasts only a few weeks, and you work more than 40 hours per week.
Likewise, overtime laws only apply to workers who get paid by the hour, not to those who get an annual salary paid out in monthly or semimonthly installments. This is because salaried employees usually get paid more than hourly employees, and the work of salaried employees tends to be less physically demanding than that of hourly workers, so there is more of it that they can do in a lifetime, thus decreasing their need for overtime pay.
What is Wage Theft?
Wage theft is when employers do not pay workers as much as they owe them. These are some of the many possible manifestations of wage theft:
- Withholding the employee’s last paycheck when the employee quits or gets fired in the middle of a pay period
- Taking money out of an employee’s paycheck as a punishment for supposed infractions for which the employer is making the employee pay them back
- Paying less than the federal minimum wage
- Keeping a portion of the money from the tip pool, unless the employer also performs work that yields tips, such as waiting tables
- Not paying the overtime rate for hours of work for which the employee is entitled to overtime pay
In the most egregious cases of wage theft, employers can receive criminal charges for financial crimes. Taken to an extreme, withholding pay from workers and making them perform unpaid labor amounts to labor trafficking, which is a form of human trafficking.
Even if your employer’s actions do not warrant criminal penalties, you have the right to complain about wage theft and to insist on fair pay. Complaining to regulators or filing a lawsuit about violations of labor laws is a protected activity, which means that it is illegal for your employer to fire you or otherwise retaliate against you for it. The Huntsville employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, can help you resolve disputes with your employer about wages and overtime pay.
Hunstville Employment Lawyers for Wage and Overtime Disputes
The Huntsville employment lawyers at HKM can give you advice about getting fair pay when your employer is trying to pay you too little. Contact the employment lawyers at HKM Employment Attorneys, LLP, in Huntsville, Alabama, to set up a consultation.
