In 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor recovered over $274 million in back wages for more than 163,000 workers. As an employee in Alabama, understanding the tactics some employers use to avoid paying overtime is crucial for protecting your rights and ensuring fair compensation. Overtime pay is a fundamental right for many workers, designed to…
Federal and state laws require most employers to pay overtime. The overtime premium is 50% of the employee’s usual hourly wage. This means an employee who works overtime must be paid “time and a half” — the employee’s usual hourly wage plus the 50% overtime premium — for every overtime hour worked. These laws contain…
A recent article in Newsweek discussed the continuing pay gap between men and women, and suggested some reasons why women still make less than their male colleagues. Another recent story discussed how female doctors are paid less than male doctors. I’m not going to argue here whether or not the pay gap is real. Instead,…
According to a survey by CareerBuilder, more than 1 in 4 workers in America arrive late to work at least once a month, with traffic being the most common excuse. In Alabama, where at-will employment laws give employers significant leeway in termination decisions, that tardiness could cost you more than just a warning—it could cost…
HICAGO — The U.S. Department of Labor has found Norfolk Southern Railway Co. violated federal whistleblower protections in the dismissals of 2 employees who reported workplace injuries. The Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration ordered the company to pay the workers more than $932,000 in damages. An assistant secretary of labor, David Michaels, said Tuesday…
WASHINGTON (AP) — It started with allegations of hangman’s nooses, graffiti and racist comments targeting a handful of black workers at a trucking company warehouse in Chicago Ridge, Ill. Four years later, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had turned the case into a major class action lawsuit alleging more than 170 employees of Yellow Transportation…
WASHINGTON — During the past week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed four pregnancy discrimination related lawsuits and settled a fifth — just weeks after the government’s workplace discrimination law enforcement arm announced a plan to target employers who illegally discriminate against pregnant women. On Sept. 20, a California security guard company, Quest…
How can you get paid for all the hours you worked? Whether it’s getting paid vacation days or lunch breaks, lots of AOL Jobs readers have concerns about this issue, so I’m going to answer three readers’ questions in this column. Please note: I’m giving general answers based on federal law. Your state may have…
Lawsuits by U.S. workers contesting wages and hours, including demands for overtime pay, reached a 20-year high this year as unemployment remained above 8 percent. There were 7,064 federal wage-and-hour cases filed during the 12 months ending March 31, a number that has grown almost every year since 2000, when the total was 1,854, according…