How to Make the System Pay Off When Your Employer Shortchanges You

If your employer doesn’t pay you for your work, won’t pay you time-and-a-half for overtime or pays you less than the $4.25 per hour federal minimum wage, you’ve got a legal right to fight back.

Making a successful case may take some doing. It’s up to you, though, to take the initiative.

All workers are protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Passed by Congress in 1938, it’s a federal law that allows workers to recover money damages when shortchanged by an employer.

Before you act, though, think it over carefully. Be sure you understand how your pay was computed. You’re entitled to a detailed explanation.

If you still are not satisfied, try talking it over with your employer in a businesslike way. Be cool about it. Keep your temper.

If you still feel you’ve been wronged, the next step could be to file a complaint with the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor to get the pay you’re owed. The Department of Labor is listed in the phone book under the federal government.

Lawyer Richard Strohm, an authority on workplace law with Campana, Vieh & Strohm, of Scottsdale, Ariz., says the complaint form is simple and Labor Department officials will help you fill it out and answer questions.

When you go to the Labor Department, take along some proof that you’re an employee, such as a letter of hire, contract or pay stub. Also, take the pay stub or stubs for the periods during which you feel you were not fairly paid.

“What is particularly important is if (employees) have any record of their hours worked on a week by week basis,” said Dick Richards, district director for the Southern New Jersey Department of Labor’s wage and hour division in Trenton.

Be sure you have the correct name and address of your employer and try to estimate how many workers the company employs. If possible, get the locations of one or two of the company’s branches, if there are any.

After you file your complaint, investigators from the Labor Department will check into the charges.

“If the thought of reporting your employer to the authorities frightens you, take some comfort in knowing that Labor Department investigators must keep the identities of those who file such complaints confidential,” according to “Your Rights in the Workplace” published by Nolo Press of San Francisco.

In addition to contacting the Labor Department, you can get a private lawyer to take your case.

“Lay folks have poor odds of trying to figure things out on their own” in these matters, Strohm said.

However, says Richards, if the Labor Department finds out you have hired your own lawyer, it will not pursue the case for you.

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Remember some categories of workers are not covered by the minimum wage or overtime pay requirements set by federal law, and you may be one of them.

Excluded are some farm workers, executives and professionals and domestic workers who earn less than $50 per quarter.

Assuming Labor Department investigators think you’re complaint is justified, they will ask your employer to pay the wages you are owed and even the wages of other workers who were similarly wronged.

If your employer won’t pay up, the secretary of labor can file a lawsuit ordering that you get paid.

Federal agencies besides the Labor Department might be interested in your complaint, such as the Justice Department, but only if criminal action is involved.

However, “the government will usually not initiate a lawsuit on behalf of a single employee,” writes Strohm in a just released book, “Your Rights in the Workplace.”

If you bring a private lawsuit, there’s a chance you can collect two or three times the amount your employer owes you, plus attorney’s fees, costs and other damages.

Some states also have a minimum wage higher than the $4.25 per hour set by the federal government, and if you live in one of these states you can try to collect the higher figure.