ST. AUGUSTINE LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAWYER

Employees have rights, but it is sometimes necessary to enforce these rights. Employers violate the law in a range of different ways. Common examples include:

• Sexual harassment is occurring in the workplace, and the employer fails to stop or prevent it.
• Employer fails to hire a qualified job applicant on the basis of age, disability, race, sex, pregnancy, or other protected characteristics under state and federal law.
• After an employee files a complaint about safety violations in the workplace, the employer retaliates by failing to promote or make training opportunities available to the worker who complained.
• Employer misclassifies a worker as “exempt” to avoid paying overtime, when the employee does not receive the minimum required salary, or has not been performing the job duties of an exempt employee.
• Employer misclassifies a worker who meets the legal definition of an employee as an independent contractor, which means that the worker does not get paid overtime and does not benefit from protections provided under employment and labor laws.
• Employee does not get paid for all hours worked because their employer is not properly tracking work time, including 5 to 20-minute breaks, work through the meal breaks, checking work-related emails at home, cleaning equipment, and attending training or safety classes.
• Employer fails to pay overtime to a tipped employee or day-rate worker who works more than 40 hours in a given week.
• In an establishment that does “tip pooling” -- putting all tips in a pool to be distributed among tipped employees, such as waiters, bartenders, and busboys -- the employer includes non-tipped workers, such as managers, dishwashers, and cooks, in the distribution of tips, shorting the tipped employees.
• Employer offers workers “comp time” – time off work for vacation or sick leave -- in lieu of overtime pay, a prohibited practice, except for state and local government employees.
• Employer pays “Chinese overtime” or “half-time” – a fluctuating workweek or half-pay program in which employees receive overtime pay at one-half their normal hourly rate – to employees who do not meet the strict eligibility criteria.

If your employer has violated your rights or cheated you out of pay you are legally entitled to receive, our lawyers in St. Augustine can provide the outstanding representation you need. We have years of experience handling employment and wage and hours claims and a successful track record recovering settlements and verdicts for our clients, including:

• $6.5 million in unpaid overtime for a group of benefits consultants
• $9 million for a group of hardware technicians
• $4.75 million for a group of gas and oil inspectors
• $3.5 million for a team of superintendents and construction managers

Morgan & Morgan's St. Augustine office work on a contingency fee basis and only charge you for our services when we favorably resolve your case. Our employment lawyers can help. Contact us using our online form for a free case evaluation with no obligation.