Comment on What is wage theft exactly?
thefloweracidic@lemmy.world 5 months agoWouldn’t the exemption be considered wage theft though? What makes this scenario more complex?
The laws are against the employee when it comes to salaried positions. Most jobs that pay a salary are exempt from overtime; only certain types of jobs qualify. However, due to lack of awareness, not paying overtime to a salaried employee who actually qualifies is probably a very common form of wage theft.
Btw, I’ve never heard wage theft used to refer to employees misreporting their hours. I’m not sure that’s a common usage of the term (kinda think it’s not).
That’s the most common way I’ve heard it used in business settings. So it’s very audience dependant.
A contract for a salaried position may say something like “you will work 40 hours a week but you maybe have to work some moderate overtime to complete tasks at certain times throughout the year.” (Probably better worded than that) but that means they can expect you to work overtime every now and then if there is a deadline or a project that requires it. But if its every week or an unreasonable amount of overtime per week then you should be compensated with time in lieu or extra money. It all depends on your contract.
Many of these answers are great, thank you for being graet, lemmy is great.
moody@lemmings.world 5 months ago
Wage theft is specifically referring to the crime of not paying an employee what they’re owed. If the law says that you don’t need to be paid for something specific, like overtime, due to being a salaried employee, then it’s not wage theft. If, however, you are an hourly employee and are not paid overtime for your hours over 40, that’s wage theft.
Another example is for waitstaff that have a lower minimum wage due to tips being expected. If your employer keeps tips and doesn’t pay you at least as much as regular minimum wage, that is also wage theft.
thefloweracidic@lemmy.world 5 months ago
This is a much more legalese take, I feel like some folks would disagree in terms of the spirit of wage theft vs the letter of the concept. I like it though, I appreciate it, I appreciate you.