FLSA Violations
The Atlanta, Georgia attorneys who protect your FLSA rights
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was designed to protect you. If you have not been paid for work you performed, you may sue your employer if other methods to receive payment have failed. The attorneys of Billips & Benjamin, based in Atlanta, Georgia, concentrate their practice in helping people get the pay that they are due. And they can help people everywhere in the United States.
Retaliation for objecting to minimum wage and overtime violations
The FLSA prohibits employers from retaliating or discriminating against any employee for asserting their rights to minimum wages or overtime pay. Retaliation is any adverse action such as job termination, demotion, suspension, or other similar punishments.
An employee suffering retaliation may:
- Be reinstated
- Recover all lost wages and benefits plus an equal amount as liquidated damages
- Be reimbursed for reasonable attorney fees and court costs.
However, without professional advice prior to making a complaint, the employee runs the risk that the complaint is not considered by the courts as protected under the law. The employee may actually be fired by the unscrupulous employer. Obtaining qualified legal counsel can make a big difference in getting the back pay requested by the employee while being protected from retaliation at the same time.
Collective actions
The FLSA allows employees to file a lawsuit against an employer on their own behalf and all others similarly situated. This is called a collective action.
Similarly situated means that the nature of the claims of the employees are similar, but need not be identical. Other employees can join the lawsuit if they file a form with the court indicating their desire to be part of the case. This is a great benefit to all the employees, as the value of one employee’s overtime or minimum wage claim is typically low when compared with that employee’s legal cost to sue.
For example, an employee would not likely want to spend thousands of dollars in legal expenses suing for an overtime claim worth $5,000. However, when many employees join the lawsuit, the cost is spread out among many employees. The other employees also typically witness, experience, and can confirm the employer’s violations, strengthening each other's claims. Having more employees involved also lessens the chance that the employer will retaliate.
Damages
The court will require the employer to stop violating the law. The FLSA also permits the employee who was wrongfully denied minimum or overtime wages to be paid damages. These should amount to the difference between what the employee should have been paid under the law and what the employee was actually paid, for two years prior to the date the employee filed the lawsuit.
If the violation of the FLSA is considered to be willful, damages may be awarded for three years prior to the case being filed. Furthermore, in many of these cases the employee may be entitled to have their actual damages doubled.
Congress has encouraged the filing of FLSA claims by providing for the recovery of reasonable legal fees by the employees who sue their employers. Because of this law, there is an economic incentive for attorneys to take on these employment claims.
Consult a lawyer first
If you think your employer is violating the FLSA, call the experienced wage and hour attorneys at Billips & Benjamin before notifying your employer of your concerns.
