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I am about to be hired in a job in Florida where my boss says I will be paid 300 a week, salary, working from 7-5, M-Sa, totaling 60 hours a week. I have had NUMEROUS people tell me that my boss is breaking labor laws here in the state of Florida with that. Is that true?
Optional Information: State/Country relating to question: Florida Already Tried: I have tried to research information regarding the labor law in Florida due to my current situation.
Hello I am a licensed attorney here to help you with your question, please review my response and do not hesitate to ask for clarification.
What will your duties be?
Under the FLSA Employees who are paid less than $23,600 per year ($455 per week) are nonexempt.
Which means that even if you are paid a salary, you have to be paid Overtime,
and if you are working 60 hours per week, and are only paid $300.00 that would be a clear violation of the minimum wage and overtime laws, if that is the actual pay scale and work hours.
It's a work at home position. My boss has 4 fencing companies in four counties in the state of Florida. He will have me answering phones, posting advertisements, handling estimates. He says he will train me but he never sets a schedule for me to be trained. He is also forwarding his phone calls to me via my home phone. So it is mainly clerical Work from Home. He has not given me a set break for lunch or normal break also so I have to pretty much ask him for a break.
If you were paid a salary of $455 per week, and were in an exempt profession, then it would be legal.
That is my current situation and this all starts officially on the 14th of this month.
Will you be a 1099 contractor or w2 employee?
He had me fill out a W2 form and a I9 form
Then he may be claiming that you are not actually working 60 hours, since you will be working at home, and their may be non work hours he is counting,
But if youare working 60 hours, then his salary of $300 per week is a clear violation.
You need to discuss with him, how many hours he claims you will be working, and if their is any overtime.
Ok. He strictly wants me to work 7-5 Monday-Saturday, I know that for a fact. He said within a few months, the 300 salary gets doubled to 600. How can that work?
If he want you to work 7-5, you cannot be paid only $300.00
That is what myself, my job coach and my fiance thought. Now if I discuss this with him, and he fires me, what can I do?
Florida minimum wage is $7.67
You should receive $460.20 for 60 hours, and that is without overtime.
If the employer believes you will be working 40 hours, then $306 would be your salary.
So you are saying that 300 a week with a 60hr work week, is in complete violation of Florida Labor Laws?
What I would consider is discussing the above wage rate with him, and see where he comes up with $300 per week, it may be that he thinks he is paying you for only 40 hours of work.
Yes,
for 60 hours that is against the minumum wage laws.
Well, I believe he said he was doing 300 due to him training me to know the business....but I still think that is a load of garbage.
He may think or assume you are working 40 hours and the rest are non paid hours.
If you take the job as offered and he actually pays you $300 per sixty hours of work, I would file a wage complaint, this way you are protected from Retaliation, and would be paid.
Well, I doubt it cause he has told me that I HAVE to work 7-5 Monday through Saturday. And Sunday is the only day I have off.
How would I file a wage complaint?
Florida has no state agency that enforces wage and hour laws; see the local DOL office(s) below.
Wage and Hour/Labor Standards - Local Offices of Federal Agency (DOL)
U.S. Department of LaborESA Wage & Hour DivisionFort Lauderdale Area OfficeFederal Building, Room 408299 East Broward Blvd.Ft. Lauderdale, FL XXXXX-XXXXPhone: (XXX) XXX-XXXXFax: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
U.S. Department of LaborESA Wage & Hour DivisionJacksonville District Office3728 Phillips HighwaySuite 219Jacksonville, FL XXXXX-XXXXPhone: (XXX) XXX-XXXXFax: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
U.S. Department of LaborESA Wage & Hour DivisionMiami District OfficeSunset Center10300 Sunset Drive, Room 255Miami, FL XXXXX-XXXXPhone: (XXX) XXX-XXXXPhone: (XXX) XXX-XXXXFax: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
U.S. Department of LaborESA Wage & Hour DivisionOrlando Area OfficeCommodore BuildingSuite 1553444 McCrory PlaceOrlando, FL XXXXX-XXXXPhone: (XXX) XXX-XXXXFax: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
U.S. Department of LaborESA Wage & Hour DivisionTampa District OfficeAustin Laurel Building4905 W. Laurel Avenue, Suite 300Tampa, FL XXXXX-XXXXPhone: (XXX) XXX-XXXXFax: (XXX) XXX-XXXX
For more information about this agency, see the U.S. Department of Labor section of our page on federal agencies
You should document the hours worked each week,
And also to add to the 7-5 work day, he hasn't really scheduled me any breaks so I have to ask him, when he isn't busy to get a break via phone or Google Chat since he runs his business through Google.
and send a bill to the employer,
this way you have proof of the hours.
Florida does not have legislation regarding meals and breaks for non-minors, also Federal law does not require employers to provide time for meals or breaks, but if a company does allow breaks, typically of less than 20 minutes, employees must be compensated for that time. Employers are not required to compensate employees for meal times
The employer does not have to provide you any breaks, under FL law.
...then I am definitively severely underpaid for what I am doing for this company....
Yes, and I do not see any way he is able to offer such a low salary for 60 hours of work, he may be claiming you are working only 39-40 hours per week.
He has to be. I don't see any other way to make me work 60 hours a week, claim he pays me 300 a week due to training, and not have any real break, regardless on whether I was working from home or not.
Yes, it is up to you to decide what you want to do, if you are working now, then file a wage complaint, if you are considering the position, do discuss how he came up with the salary, and if you do decide to take the job,
He just fired me.
He changed all my information.
make sure your detail your hours worked.
Now I need to know....how to report his company to the labor union.
The State Labor department?
If it is a wage complaint file an official complaint with the agency above,
Alright. Thank you.
if he has been paying employees below the minumum wage, then they will investigate and fine and sanction him.
Also, you would be paid any wages not paid by him,
If you have any further questions please do not hesitate top ask.
Well, he just fired me and I haven't been paid
How long have you worked for him?
3 days
And he said he would of not given me my pay for the first 4 days of work til the following Saturday
So I don't think he is going to pay me.
He has to pay you,
and you should file a complaint with the above agency or sue him in small calims court.
I don't think he will to be honest. I tried to log into my information that he gave me to get access to his website, and it says the password XXX changed.
And he told me to start working again on the 14.
14th*
I would send him a lette or email, stating you will be filing a DOL complaint, and sue him in small claims court for the unpaid wages, and sanctions.
You would be able to obtain the information through the Court process.
Thank you. I know he is accredited with the BBB, is there anything on that end I can use as well?
You can only make a complaint if you can prove your allegations, as he may try to sue you for defamation.
I have no paper trail to follow on.
Everything is done on Google and I can't get into it and grab the chatlogs.
You should still make the claim, and let them investigate.
If you used a computer, you can check your history of phone records etc.
You are not hurt by making the DOL complaint.
Ok. I also made advertisements for him on 3 different sites. 7 ads, HTML coded and graphic designed on craigslist that I made and coded myself, 1 ad on eBays Classified, and another on Backpage.com Can I get money for those ads that I created and designed myself from him?
Yes, you should be paid for all the work you did for him.
Ok.
Good luck, and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to ask.
Experience: 13 years experience, Union NYSUT lawyer