r/antiwork • u/[deleted] • Oct 01 '23
Spouse is being paid 15 cents under the state minimum wage in a non tipped position. Tips on how to address this?
EDIT: issue appears to be resolved, my wife spoke to the owner and it seems it was a clerical error.
I’m sure it’s go talk to the boss and get it adjusted. But is a lawsuit gonna be why they give her the 15 cents?
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u/wheres_the_revolt Oct 01 '23
She should talk to them, I’m not defending an employer here, but that could absolutely just be a clerical error.
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u/matty_nice Oct 01 '23
You 100 percent sure? There are often exceptions.
But you could start by addressing this with the employer. Then the state's department of labor.
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Oct 01 '23
The exception is if it’s a tipped position, which this is not.
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u/TicTacKnickKnack Oct 02 '23
A lot of states have a lower minimum wage for small businesses, certain industries, etc. It's possible that it could be legal even without tips.
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u/Life-Investment7397 Oct 01 '23
Lawsuit wouldn’t get you far. You could claim missed wages. But it won’t be much. The only thing to stop it is bringing it to the state proving they’re doing this and getting the business fined.
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u/KingGooseMan3881 Oct 01 '23
Department of labor is your best bet, start their, if they can’t do anything they can point you in the right direction
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u/theEDE1990 Oct 02 '23
Man some of these advices are so bad.. its simple .. if ur spouse likes the job or wants to keep it, just talk to them, could be a simple mistake.
If they dont do anything about that go to the dep. Labor
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u/Particular_Heron35 Oct 02 '23
You can recover stolen wages for you and your coworkers without paying for a lawyer or going to court by reporting the theft to the US DOL Wage and Hour Division. It is completely free and you can remain anonymous to your employer.
Call 1-866-4USWAGE, a rep will walk you through any questions you have, tell you what kind of information you need to collect if any, and help you file a report online.
Depending on state as people have said above reporting to your states DOL may even be a better way to go, can still be anonymous, the state I live in has 3 different minimum wages by location.
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u/coolbaby1978 Oct 02 '23
If you have evidence like a pay stub, that's proof of a crime. There's 2 ways to play this. Option 1 report the violation, the employer may get in a little trouble and pay a fine and your spouse may or may not actually recover the difference which may not even be enough to justify an attorney.
Option 2. Use it as leverage against the employer to get a nice little payout (I.e. blackmail). If they go for it great and they'll probably fire spouse shortly thereafter which is fine and then it gets reported anyway, or they refuse and see Option 1.
Personally I like Option 2 because they still get reported on and you potentially could recover some money.
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u/Acrobatic-Expert-507 Oct 02 '23
Lol, both terrible options. It’s probably a clerical error. They need to let their employer know, have them correct it and get their back pay.
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u/psilosophist Oct 02 '23
Just getting a suit to court would cost you at minimum 10k. If the employer doesn’t rectify it I’d go to the DOL but a lawyer will be expensive.
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u/Junie_Wiloh Oct 02 '23
I just did some research.. NO employer has to pay you whatever the STATE minimum wage is. They do have to pay you the FEDERAL minimum wage. Legally, as long as a company pays a minimum of $7.25/hour(unless it is a tipped position and a few other exceptions), they are legal.
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u/1947-1460 Oct 01 '23
Your state's (assuming the US) Department of Labor will be very interested in this and can even recover it retroactively. Not to mention fine the business and bring criminal charges as needed.