Best Ohio Overtime Pay Attorney Answer: What happens if my boss falsifies time records? What if an employer is shaving time off an employee’s time sheet to prevent overtime pay? Are all employers required to pay minimum wage to their employees?
The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) requires that covered, nonexempt employees be paid at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for all hours worked, plus time and one-half their regular hourly rates for hours worked beyond 40 per week. The FLSA provides that employers who violate the law are liable to the aggrieved employees for their back wages and an equal amount in liquidated damages, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. Liquidated damages are paid directly to the affected employees.
Recently, the Department of Labor reported that a Subway franchise in Buffalo, Minnesota will pay 16 of its workers a total of $9,800 in back wages and liquidated damages for several wage and hour violations under the FLSA.
After a lawsuit was filed against Subway for the alleged violations, it was learned that Subway falsified its time records to support its allegation that it was properly paying its workers. Pursuant to the Department of Labor’s FLSA Fact Sheet, “Every covered employer must keep certain records for each non-exempt worker. The Act requires no particular form for the records, but does require that the records include certain identifying information about the employee and data about the hours worked and the wages earned. The law requires this information to be accurate.” Indeed, wage and hour records maintained by an employer for its employees must contain the following information:
- Employee’s full name and social security number.
- Address, including zip code.
- Birth date, if younger than 19.
- Sex and occupation.
- Time and day of week when employee’s workweek begins.
- Hours worked each day.
- Total hours worked each workweek.
- Basis on which employee’s wages are paid
- Regular hourly pay rate.
- Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings.
- Total overtime earnings for the workweek.
- All additions to or deductions from the employee’s wages.
- Total wages paid each pay period.
- Date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment.
In this case, Subway not only failed to keep accurate records, but actually falsified the records in an attempt to mislead its employees as well as the Department of Labor during its investigation into Subway’s wage and hour practices.
In addition to learning that Subway falsified its records, the Department of Labor uncovered the fact that Subway failed to pay its workers at least minimum wage because the company rounded off and shaved hours from the records. This misconduct not only prevented some workers from receiving minimum wage, but also allowed Subway to avoid paying overtime compensation to certain employees. When confronted with these charges, the owner of the Subway franchise admitted to destroying original time records in favor of new records that he had falsified.
If you believe that your employer is not paying you all of your wages for all of your lawfully earned overtime compensation at a rate of one and half times your normal wages as requires under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act or Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards laws or you are an nonexempt employee that has been misclassified as exempt or independent contractor, contact the attorneys at Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm today for a free and confidential initial consultation. The wage and hour lawyers at Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm will provide you with the best options for your overtime pay dispute situation. If you even think that you may be entitled to overtime pay that you are not being paid, call 866-797-6040.
Disclaimer:
The materials available at the top of this overtime, wage and hour web page and at this employment law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. If you are still asking, “Am I entitled to overtime?”, “Does my job have to pay me for …”, “My paycheck is not right…” or “What do I do if…”, the your best option is to contact an Ohio overtime attorney to obtain advice with respect to FLSA questions or any particular employment law issue. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship. The legal opinions expressed at the top of this page or through this site are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm, Brian Spitz, or any individual attorney.