The Law Office of Robert Wiley, P.C. represents employees who are not paid the minimum wage. If you believe you have not been paid properly, please contact us.

What is the federal minimum wage?

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

Certain states and cities have adopted minimum wages higher than the federal minimum wage. In such an instance, the employee is entitled to the highest minimum wage applicable.

What are common violations of the minimum wage law?

Common violations include not paying an employee for all hours worked, paying by commission in weeks where there is little or no commission to be paid, and outright worker exploitation.

Not paid for all hours worked. If an employee must drive long distances but is not paid, is made to wait at a specific location and cannot leave, or is taken off the clock between jobs in a shift, the employer may be violating the minimum wage law. This also occurs if an employee performs work and the employer simply fails to pay the employee.

Insufficient commission. If an employee is paid by the commission, and the commission is less than minimum wages for a workweek, the employer may have violated the law.

Exploitation. Unfortunately, some employers will simply exploit workers and pay them less than the minimum wage. We are particularly interested in cases where employers prey on the uneducated, minority workers, and non-citizens (including undocumented workers or “illegal immigrants”).

What is the minimum wage for workers who receive tips?

The minimum wage for tipped employees in $7.25 per hour. If a tipped employee is paid $2.13 an hour in direct wages, the employees tips must come to $5.12 per hour or greater in a work week. This difference between $2.13 and the minimum wage is called the “tip credit.”

Using the tip credit to meet the minimum wage requirements is a privilege, not a right. An employer must strictly comply with all regulations regarding the tip credit or the employer loses the tip credit. If an employer loses the tip credit, the employer must go back and pay the $5.12 difference out of the employer’s pocket for all hours worked in the past two or three years. In many cases, the employer must pay a penalty equal to the amount owed. This means that an affected worker would receive twice the tip credit (currently $10.24) for each hour worked in the past two or three years.

If an employer uses a tip pool in calculating the tip credit, the employer must strictly follow all tip pool requirements.

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If you believe you have a claim for minimum wages, please contact us immediately.