Employment Legal Help If you have been a victim of wage theft, you do have resources available. You may want to start with a claim with the State Department of Labor. The Department of Labor has a mission to promote and achieve compliance with the labor standards and laws. The agency works to protect workers and to ensure the fair treatment and safety of those in the workplace. If the claim is not settled to your satisfaction, you will want to get the help of a wage theft attorney so you can file a wage theft lawsuit against your employer.
Your lawyer will gather all the supporting evidence and documentation that you need to prove your case and to ensure your wage theft claim is on the right track. With the help of a knowledgeable wage theft attorney, you are much more likely to have a successful claim and recover your lost earnings. Help is available, so you should make sure that you stand up for your rights and you get your claim filed before it is too late to recover the compensation that you are owed.
Time Is Limited
When you file a wage theft claim, you need to act promptly. In general, you can only recover unpaid wages from the two years before your claim is filed. If you can prove that your employer knew that the FLSA was being violated, you can have the statute of limitations extended. You should speak with a representative of the State Department of Labor to find out the deadlines and time limits for pursing such a claim, so you become familiar with the deadlines and the processes.
The laws do vary from one state to the next. Each state sets its own time limit for pursuing a wage theft claim. You should make sure that your claim is filed before the deadline. That way, you can make sure that you can pursuit a lawsuit before time runs out. If you wait too long, you cannot recover your stolen wages. A wage theft attorney will make sure all your supporting documentation is in order and that you can successfully prove that you were a victim of wage theft.
Evidence For Your Stolen Wages Case
If you have suffered from wage theft, you will need evidence to support your claim. Just like any other claim filed or any other lawsuit that goes to court, your case’s success is dependent on the evidence that it is presented in support of the claim. There are many kinds of evidence that you could use to support your claim and the more evidence that you have, the better off you will be with getting your claim successfully resolved.
Evidence that you will need will include any pay stubs or copies of paychecks, which you can use to show how much you were actually paid for the time you worked. You will also need to present time keeping records, such a timecards or timesheets. This will show the actual time that you were working or on duty, so it can be compared to your pay stubs or paychecks. This will help show the discrepancies.
Be sure to keep all your employment documents, such as the new hire paperwork, any contracts, employee handbooks, and so forth. Keep job descriptions and anything that refer to your classification. It should indicate if you are eligible for overtime, or if you are on a set salary. If you are suffering from wage theft, the odds are that your employer has done something like that to some of your fellow workers.
Working With An Attorney
Sometimes it may be difficult to get the evidence and supporting documentation that you need to prove that you were a victim of wage theft. A wage theft lawyer will be able to access that documentation and gather up all the evidence that you need to get your claim on track.
The sooner you get your wage theft case started, the better of you will be and the more likely you will be to make sure you have everything in order and filed on time. Your chances of succeeding with your wage theft claim increase greatly after you have hired a lawyer to represent you throughout the claims process. Your employer will have to pay your lawyer and cover the legal fees, so you will not be out of anything out of pocket. Schedule your free case review with a wage theft attorney who handles such claims in your state today!