Missouri employees are entitled to compensation for all the work that they have performed. Employers, though, have incentives to deny their employees pay, especially when the employees have little in terms of recourse. One of the primary ways that an employer might violate workers’ rights to fair, complete compensation is through wage theft. Examples of wage theft include not paying overtime, requiring employees to work off the clock, making illegal deductions, not paying employees, and paying employees less than minimum wage.
Wage theft by employers is prohibited by the Fair Labor Standards Act. Digital wage theft is also illegal, and is a relatively new way that employers can wrong their employees. Digital time tracking was designed to more accurately track the time that employees work, but it also makes it easier for employers and management to corrupt or alter the hours that employees are paid for. Digital time tracking technology leaves room for employers to steal wages from employees by rounding, time shaving, and making automatic deductions for breaks.
Rounding refers to when an employer sets software to change the start and end times of workers to lower their hours. Time shaving is when an employer actively makes changes to an employee’s time records to reduce the number of hours reported, resulting in lowered payments. Automatic deductions for breaks occur when an employer deducts time from an employee for scheduled breaks even when the employee does not take them.
Employees who have been paid improperly might want to schedule a meeting with a lawyer. A lawyer who practices employment law might be able to help by reviewing the facts of the case and gathering evidence to put together an FLSA claim. A lawyer might be able to negotiate a settlement with the employer or draft and file a complaint for relief if the amount that is offered is inadequate.
