Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
into law on June 25, 1938. Eighty years later, the FLSA still serves as an
effective tool for combating wage theft across all types of industries and
jobs.
According to the United States Department of Labor, over 21,500
FLSA cases were filed in court last year. The top ten FLSA violations are as
follows:
1.
Employers pay their workers on a salary to avoid
paying overtime after forty hours per workweek.
2.
Employees are not paid for pre- or post-shift
work, or for the time they spend working from home.
3.
Employers manipulate the time records of
employees and “shave” time from hours the employee worked.
4.
Companies do not pay employees for time spent
on-call or waiting periods.
5.
Companies misclassify employees as independent
contractors, who do not qualify to receive overtime pay, therefore avoiding
paying these employees overtime.
6.
Employers pay workers at the same hourly rate,
or “straight time”, after forty hours of work per week.
7.
Employers pay shift pay or a daily rate, thereby
avoiding overtime pay.
8.
Restaurant owners take from the tips of their
wait staff.
9.
Employers fail to pay workers for training.
10. Employers
require employees to work through their meal breaks or interrupt their breaks
with tasks and do not pay them for this time.
So, happy birthday to the FLSA! All workers should celebrate
today by knowing their rights.
