UNPAID WAGES AND BENEFITS
UNPAID WAGES AND BENEFITS LAWYER IN COLUMBIA, SC
IF YOUR EMPLOYER HAS NOT PAID ALL YOUR WAGES:
Your employment in South Carolina is contractual. You have a contract with your employer. Although your contract may be an “at will” contract (meaning that either the employer or the employee may terminate the relationship at any time for any reason) if your employer has not paid you all your wages, this is a violation of the employment contract.
Also, in South Carolina, there is a Wage Payment Statute. This law (SC Code Ann. §41-10-10 et seq. (Supp. 2002)), requires certain information for employees and the prompt payment of wages agreed upon to all South Carolina employees. Employers are required to notify employees of their wages and deductions. Although an employer can change these terms, seven days’ notice is required prior to any change and employers are required to give written notice of the normal hours agreed upon between the parties.
Most importantly, this Statute provides that if an employer does not pay all wages due, an employee may file a lawsuit and may collect treble proven damages depending on the facts of the case and, in many cases, recoup attorney’s fees. The SC LLR has some enforcement capability under this Statute.
WHAT IF THE EMPLOYER DID NOT PAY MY BONUS OR ACCRUED VACATION?
Wages include your pay, the value of any unauthorized deductions by the employer and may well include unpaid and accrued vacation, personal time or bonuses earned but not yet paid. The crux of the law is to give actual notice to employees of the agreement for wages and deductions. Some employers state that you will lose accrued vacation if you are terminated for cause. If a bonus is purely discretionary by the employer such a payment would not likely be considered wages but, if the bonus or a portion is earned and not clearly discretionary, a bonus would generally be considered wages. If you are terminated prior to a bonus payout, you may well be entitled to that bonus or a portion of it.
FAIR LABOR STANDARDS ACT – OVERTIME – WAGES UNPAID:
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law and it requires wage payment, overtime and requires a minimum wage. Employers who violate this law may be sued to recover lost wages and attorney’s fees and, sometimes, additional damages. The minimum wage is different for certain categories of workers including those who work for tips. Some employees are exempt from the law altogether.
Employers sometimes do not comply with legally mandated overtime pay requirements in many ways. Some of the methods used include:
-Shorting hours, especially for break times. Under the law, break times are considered part of paid time unless the break lasts longer than twenty minutes. Shortchanging time involves excluding break time in the computation of the hours of work.
-Forcing an employee to work off the clock, which is requiring the employee to clock out and then return to work to complete the unfinished work.
-Employee missclassification as exempt when they are non-exempt from the Act.
HOW CAN WE HELP?
Charles (Chuck) Ormond and Ben Dunn together have over forty (40) years of experience in employment and labor issues and litigation. Both partners have experience representing both employees and employers and, this background, assists them in resolving employment cases justly on either side of the case. Once a case is evaluated, and if the facts create a case which can be filed in Court, you will have both attorneys working for you. The Firm does accept employment cases where the legal fees are on a contingency basis and will meet with you for a one half hour initial consult for $50.00 in order to determine if you have a valid employment case or give legal advice regarding an employment matter.
