If you have a dispute that is connected to your wages, you may want to reach out to the Wage and Hour Division of the U.S. Department of Labor, which is responsible for enforcing some of the country’s most comprehensive labor laws. You have protection under these laws and you will definitely want to file a claim by the book.
Exactly what is the complaint process?
The complaint process is a step-by-step process with the following steps:
- Information gathering: The first step in the process is to gather all of the information that you will need to be able to submit your complaint. The information that you will need to submit is your name, address, phone number, you work’s location, the company’s phone number, your manager’s or the owner’s name, the kind of work that you do, and how and when you were paid.
- Figure out how you want to file the complaint: There are several different ways in which you can file your complaint. You can reach out through Email, phone, or by filling out the form, which asks you for different details, such as your contact information; customer type; type of issue that you are experiencing or have experienced; your work sector; whether you work for the government; if you do work for the government, which branch of the government; exactly what is your issue.
- This step is about working with the Wage and Hour Division to resolve your issue(s): The Wage and Hour Division will discuss your issue and will then decide if it is worth investigating further. It might just be a larger issue than you realize.
What types of businesses are investigated by the Wage and Hour Division?
There are certain industries that are investigated, such as low-wage industries, which often have large numbers of violations or really serious violations against workers, employing people who are vulnerable, or industries that grow or shrink abnormally quickly.
If the Wage and Hour Division is going to investigate a business, the procedure is as follows:
- Initial conference: The first step in the investigative process is for the investigator to meet with the employer, with or without their representative, and for the investigator to take a tour of the business.
- Conducting interviews: In the step, the investigator will interview the employees privately.
- Record review: In this step, the investigator will review the employer’s records to make sure that the business is being compliant with the rules and the laws.
- The final conference: The final step is to have another conference between the investigator and the employer (with or without the representative) to talk about any violations that may have been discovered and exactly how the employer plans to fix those violations. If money is owed to the employees, the investigator request that the employer pays the employees their back pay that the employer owes them.
Advice from an experienced Wage and Hour Dispute Lawyer
If your employer owes you money and you are not having and success at getting them to pay you what they owe you, the expertise of a St. Petersburg, Florida, wage and hour dispute lawyer may make a great deal of difference to your case. The lawyer can walk you through the steps of the process that you need to follow and can also ensure that your rights are protected at all times. You did not cause this issue but you may be the one to set it right in the end.