MINIMUM WAGE LAWYER SOUTH FLORIDA

sTRATEGIC AND AGGRESSIVE MINIMUM WAGE LAWYER

Militzok Law has routinely and successfully represented South Florida clients with unpaid wage claims for over 10 years.

Contact us today to learn if you believe that you may have a minimum wage claim against your current or previous employer, or if your company has been sued for failure to pay minimum wages. To learn more, scroll down for more information about the minimum wage law.

OVERVIEW

The minimum wage law in the United States is a section of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The FLSA provides entitlement to the federal minimum wage for all employees who work for a covered employer, as defined by the FLSA, and who are not otherwise exempt from receiving the minimum wage.  Whether the employee is entitled to the minimum wage (non-exempt employee) or not (exempt) is determined by the method of the employee's pay as well as what the employee's regularly and customary job duties performed are.  

Florida has a state law called the Florida Minimum Wage Act.  Employees in Florida are entitled to receive the higher state minimum wage. 

WHO IS ENTITLED TO tHE MINIMUM WAGE

Most employees in the United States are entitled to the minimum wage.  

To be entitled to a rate of at least the minimum wage, the worker must be an "employee" of the business, as defined by the FLSA.  Companies often times attempt to misclassify employees as "independent contractor" to avoid having to pay the minimum wage and other taxes.

Second, the employee's work must be covered by the FLSA, in one of two ways: 

1. The company must have gross annual sales in excess of $500,000 per year, along with two or more employees engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce, or that has employees handling, selling, or otherwise working on goods or materials that have been moved in or produced for commerce by any person (Enterprise Coverage), or 

2. The individual worker has engaged in commerce or in the product of goods for commerce (Individual Coverage).

Third, the employee must be a "non-exempt employee" (entitled to the minimum wage) as opposed to an "exempt employee" (not entitled to the minimum wage).  An employee who is otherwise entitled to the minimum wage, but is subject to one of the man exemptions to the FLSA is said to be an "exempt employee" (not entitled to receive the minimum wage).  

HOURLY EMPLOYEES

Hourly employees are those workers who are a paid a fixed amount of wages for each hour they worked.  Just about all covered hourly employees are entitled to the minimum wage, under the FLSA.

SALARIED EMPLOYEES

Salaried employees are those workers who are paid a fixed amount of wages for a period of time that they work (usually a week or bi-weekly). 

A common misconception is that salaried employees are not entitled to the minimum wage.  Salaried employees are often entitled to the minimum wage, under the FLSA, unless they are subject to one of the so-called "white collar" exemptions to the FLSA.

TIPPED EMPLOYEES

Tipped employees are those workers who customarily and regularly receive more than $30 per month in tips. Tips are the property of the employee. The employer is prohibited from using an employee’s tips for any reason other than as a credit against its minimum wage obligation to the employee (“tip credit”) or in furtherance of a valid tip pool. Only tips actually received by the employee may be counted in determining whether the employee is a tipped employee and in applying the tip credit.

Tip Credit:

An employer may take a tip credit toward a tipped employee’s minimum wage obligation if it provides the following information to the employee first:

1. the amount of cash wage the employer is paying a tipped employee, which must be at least $4.65 per hour in the state of Florida;

2. the additional amount claimed by the employer as a tip credit, which cannot exceed $4.65 in the state of Florida;

3. that the tip credit claimed by the employer cannot exceed the amount of tips actually received by the tipped employee;

4. that all tips received by the tipped employee are to be retained by the employee except for a valid tip pooling arrangement limited to employees who customarily and regularly receive tips; and

5. that the tip credit will not apply to any tipped employee unless the employee has been informed of these tip credit provisions.

Tip Pool:

The requirement that an employee must retain all tips does not preclude a valid tip pooling or sharing arrangement among employees who customarily and regularly receive tips, such as waiters, waitresses, bellhops, counter personnel (who serve customers), bussers, and service bartenders. A valid tip pool may not include employees who do not customarily and regularly received tips, such as dishwashers, cooks, chefs, and janitors.

COMMON mINIMUM WAGE VIOLATIONS

• Late or no payment;

• Work performed "off the clock";

• Hourly employee working through an unpaid break;

• Employee misclassification as an "independent contractor";

• Employee misclassification as an "exempt employee";

• Employer intentional or unintentional cuts employee hours;

• Employer violates the rules for tip sharing for positions who regularly receive a tip;

• Employer using an incorrect calculation methodology;

• Employer failing to properly track the actual time worked of the employee;

• Employer making improper salary deductions;

• Unpaid internships for the benefit of the employer.

DAMAGES

Prevailing employees will be entitled to the actual amount of unpaid minimum wages which are owed (actual damage) and the employee's attorneys' fees and costs.  The employee may also be entitled to liquidated (or double) damages (twice the amount that the employee is actually owed).

FEES AND COSTS

The FLSA provides for the successful plaintiff to seek her attorneys' fees and costs incurred during the process.  In those instances, employees do not pay the Firm any money out of pocket during the process, at any time.

Militzok Law offers highly competitive and flexible payment plans for small and medium-sized businesses.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

If you wish to further discuss your potential claim, or to learn more, please contact us today. We will respond to your inquiry with a prompt and honest assessment.  

Militzok Law is a South Florida civil litigation law firm focusing on labor and employment matters.

contact information:

Militzok Law, P.A.
8958 W State Road 84, #1036
Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33324

(954) 780-8228 - phone
(954) 719-4456 - facsimile
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