California Labor law Attorney’s Encourage Employees to Keep Track of their Hours
The Department of Labor recently released a Smartphone application called DOL-Timesheet to help employees hold their employers accountable for proper payment of overtime wages. This app allows employees calculate regular work hours, break time and overtime pay to generate their own wage records. Department officials say the information could prove valuable in a dispute over pay or during a government investigation when an employer has not kept an accurate account of hours worked. The Labor Department is already planning future updates for the app that will include support for other smartphone platforms, such as Android and BlackBerry. New features being considered for future versions will have the ability to input forms of pay other than hourly, such as tips, commissions, bonuses, and holiday pay.
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said.”This app will help empower workers to understand and stand up for their rights when employers have denied their hard-earned pay,”
According to the Department of Labor, suits filed by employees have increased dramatically. About 6,800 such suits were filed in 2010, about 700 more than the previous year. Most were collective or class actions. Totaling $176 million in back pay and in the last five years, they gave 1.2 million employees more than $925 million in back pay and overtime.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor receives more than 35,000 inquires a year for assistance and is not always able to handle every claim. For those they are unable help, they now refer them to the toll-free hot line, where they can get a referral to an attorney who specializes in wage and hour disputes.
Nancy Leppink, acting Wage and Hour Administrator, says the department is just doing what it is supposed to do, which is going after employers who take advantage of employees by shorting them of their hard-earned wages. Leppink said.”To the extent we have employers who are not complying with the law, we have an obligation to look for all of the opportunities we can to change that behavior,”
If you are experiencing issues with your employer regarding overtime pay, improper time keeping, reimbursable expenses you should contact a California labor law attorney to seek assistance in claiming all of your back pay and any other penalties you may be entitled to.
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