unpaid overtime

HOUSTON, Texas. According to CNBC, under the gender pay gap, the average woman makes 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. Yet, a recent report indicates that the gender pay gap can vary greatly depending on where you live. In states like Wyoming and Utah, men are paid double what women make. This largely due to the male-dominated energy sector in these states. Another factor leading to a greater pay gap has to do with bias in certain industries. For example, certain industries have a greater pay gap than others.

[Read more…] about How Employment Lawyers Can Help Fight the Gender Pay Gap

HOUSTON, Texas. According to Reuters a U.S. court recently ruled that a person’s historical wage could not be used by a company as justification for paying female workers lower than male workers. In the case of Rizo v Fresno County Office of Education, the Office of Education was trying to justify paying a woman less than her male co-workers because the woman’s past salary had been lower. The woman learned that she was being paid less than male co-workers who had less training and experience than she had. Before the Equal Pay Act was passed, barring employers from engaging in pay discrimination, women may have been paid lower wages than men. By using a woman’s historical salary to justify lower pay, some workplaces may have been grandfathering in pay discrimination. Women who have historically been paid lower may continue to be paid lower wages, which can lead to entrenchment of pay discrimination despite new laws barring discrimination.

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HOUSTON, Texas. According to a report presented to the Department of Labor, wage violations have a major impact on America’s poorest families. In New York, the report identified 188,000 weekly violations, representing $10.2 million dollars in lost wages, or 47.5% of a worker’s wages. For a family living at the poverty line, this is the difference between food security, access to health care, and paid rent.

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HOUSTON, Texas. More states are considering changing the laws about how tipped workers are paid. According to the Department of Labor, seven states currently require employers to pay tipped workers the state minimum wage. These states are: Alaska, California, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Nevada, and Minnesota. The New York Times reports that New York may soon join their ranks.

[Read more…] about Wage Violations in Restaurants

HOUSTON, Texas. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. However, some states have raised their minimum wage requirements to keep up with inflation. According to the United States Department of Labor, the minimum wage in Texas is $7.25 per hour. Yet, regardless of what the minimum wage is in your state, Politico reports that workers sometimes struggle to receive the back pay they are entitled to receive, even when the government finds that the employer violated wage laws.

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HOUSTON, Texas. According to ABC 13, twenty-four employees at a Mexican restaurant in Houston will receive approximately $100,000 in unpaid overtime. According to the complaint, the restaurant owned several branches in the city. When workers worked at different branches, the employees’ overtime was not counted. Essentially, the company shuttled the workers between locations in the hope that they could evade federal wage laws. The tactic didn’t work. Employees are entitled to receive overtime pay regardless of which branch they work.

[Read more…] about More Unpaid Overtime Cases Won in Houston