Wage, Hour and Overtime Claims

Federal and New Jersey employment laws establish requirements for minimum wage, overtime, and wage payment. Our New Jersey wage and hour attorneys represent employees on the full range of wage, hour and overtime issues.

Some of the issues which our wage and hour attorneys handle include:

• Failure to pay overtime
• Retaliation against employees for disclosing or objecting to wage and hour violations
• Misclassification of employees to avoid overtime or minimum wage requirements
• Misclassification of employees to avoid paying payroll taxes
• Failure to include required activities in the calculation of straight time and overtime
• Classification by public employer of same work by the same employees as both paid employment and volunteer serve to avoid paying overtime
• Requiring employees to work "off the clock"
• Improper withholding from employees' paychecks
• Improper calculation of overtime
• Prevailing wage claims
• Failure to pay minimum wage

Federal and New Jersey wage and hour law requires that most employees ("non-exempt" employees) be paid "overtime," (or "time and a half") after 40 hours in a single workweek. Certain employees are exempt, however, including executives, professionals, certain administrative, some salespersons, and certain seasonal employees; each of these exemptions contains many gray areas. Some firefighters and law enforcement personnel, because of the nature of their work and shifts, may have the relevant period for calculating overtime extended. However, if an employee is not exempt, they must be paid "time and a half," or "overtime," when they work more than forty hours in a week. This is true regardless of whether the employee is paid on an hourly or salary basis. Employers must keep detailed records of time worked by non-exempt employees.

McLaughlin & Nardi’s wage and hour attorneys have significant experience in litigating claims for failure to pay overtime.

Most employees ("non-exempt" employees) must be paid at least minimum wage for their work. Some exceptions exist, such as full-time students on a work-study program at their college, part-time in home child care workers, automobile salespersons, some minors, outside salespersons, volunteers, and summer camp employees. Some persons whose disabilities reduce their earning capacities may obtain a license to work for less than minimum wage, but these are strictly limited.

The New Jersey Wage Payment Law requires that most employees receive the full amount of their wages due at least twice during the month on regularly scheduled paydays. Executives, supervisors and certain other employees may be paid once per month.

Likewise, employers are limited in their ability to make deductions from paychecks. Withholding taxes are, of course, allowed, but there are few other exceptions which are allowed unless agreed to by the employee, either directly or through a union contract.

Many wage and hour violations are widespread and ameanable to class actions. This is because employers often taken the same action against all their similarly situated employees. These practices lend themselves to the collective strength of a class action.

Both New Jersey and Federal law prohibit an employer from retaliating against an employee who objected to or disclosed wage and hour violations. Our wage and hour attorney’s have significant experience in litigating wage and hour retaliation claims.

New Jersey’s Law Against Discrimination prohibits discrimination because of an employee’s:

• Race
• Creed
• Color
• National origin
• Nationality
• Ancestry
• Age
• Sex (including pregnancy)
• Marital status
• Domestic partnership or civil union status
• Affectional or sexual orientation
• Gender identity or expression
• Atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait
• Genetic information
• Liability for military service
• Mental or physical disability, including aids and hiv related illnesses.

The Federal Equal Pay Act prohibits discrimination based on an employee’s gender

Our New Jersey employment lawyers are experienced and aggressive in fighting for employees’ rights in wage discrimination claims, and all discrimination laws.

Contractors must pay “prevailing wages” in the industry, as determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, when doing public works. Contractors must keep accurate records. Some less scrupulous contractors represent to the government department they are working for that they are paying prevailing wages, and then actually pay the employees less. Contracts who do so, however, can be barred from doing any more public work, and the employees may sue for unpaid wages, either individually, as a group, or in a class action.

If you have been the victim of a wage, hour or overtime violation, e-mail us or call one of our New Jersey wage and hour attorneys at (973) 890-0004.