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What is wage theft?

On Behalf of | Sep 5, 2019 | Employment Law

It is important for many Tennessee residents to earn a solid income to support their families. Without an income, a person may be unable to feed their children, keep a roof over their head, or provide them with other important, necessary things. Many people budget their expenditures based on their incomes to ensure that their needs do not exceed their means.

A person’s ability to provide stability and support for their loved ones, however, can be threatened if they are a victim of wage theft. Wage theft happens when a person is not paid for the work that they complete. When their employer fails to compensate them fairly and completely, an employee may suffer financial losses from wage theft.

One way that wage theft occurs is through the failure of an employer to provide their employee with earned overtime. Overtime is work that an employee does beyond their regular hours and may be compensated at a higher rate. Wage theft can happen if the employee does not get paid at their higher rate or does not get paid at all for working overtime.

Wage theft can result from an employer failing to pay at the minimum wage, making impermissible deductions from an employee’s paycheck, or simply failing to give an employee their pay. Victims of wage theft can fight for the compensation they deserve and may benefit from getting the support of a trusted employment law attorney. No part of this blog should be used as legal advice, as it is provided as information only.