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Wages & Benefits in Houston

All Houston employees have legal rights involving wages and employment benefits, which include a minimum wage, overtime pay, employee health insurance, retirement plans, and tipping for certain service sector employees. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in particular establishes minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers.

If you need advice on an employment law issue, including advice on wages or benefits, you should speak with a Houston employment lawyer. Houston employment lawyers can assess your legal issue and can tell you how to go about filing a claim. You can find a local lawyer by viewing FindLaw's directory of Houston employment lawyers.


Recently in Wages & Benefits Category

Does Texas Require Overtime Pay When Working on Holidays?

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People expecting to get paid a lot of money when working on a federal holiday might be disappointed to find out that employees in the private sector don't have to be paid beyond their normal rate of pay on holidays. Under Texas state laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act, holidays are treated like any other work day and no time off or extra pay is required.

Despite these laws, the Houston Chronicle reports that many companies choose to give their employees bonus pay or paid time off on holidays to improve morale and attract employees. Most public sector employees in Texas receive 10 paid holidays each year as ordered by federal law. These holidays include New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.

Employee at Chinese Buffet Sues Over Unpaid Wages

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Jose Armando Miranda Gonzalez, a restaurant employee in the Houston-area, has filed a lawsuit against Hu Jiang Inc. after getting paid wages that were less than the minimum wage. He claims that he got paid $1,500 a month, but that he generally worked 12 hours a day and six days per week, as did other salad prep cooks working for the company.

The Southeast Texas Record reports that the lawsuit against Hu Jiang Inc. claims violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The company does business as King Buffet, Jin Zhu Wang, and Li Qiu Jiang and has restaurant locations in La Porte, Pasadena, and Houston. The lawsuit is a collective action among several current and former salad prep cooks that worked for the company.

Dollar Tree Employees in Florida Claim FLSA Violations

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Current and former employees of the Dollar Tree discount stores in Florida are now filing a lawsuit against the company, seeking unpaid wages and overtime compensation.The Sun Sentinel reports that the employees filed the suit on September 1 in the United States District Court in Southern Florida.

The two assistant managers filing the lawsuit claim that the discount chain failed to pay them the minimum wage and overtime compensation — both violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act. The employees also claim that they were routinely asked to work off the clock and that they were often forced to work through their lunch break without pay. A full version of the complaint can be found at DollarTreeLawsuit.com.

An employee of a group home for individuals with mental disabilities claims that he was required to live in the facility for a total of 19 hours each day Monday through Friday and 15.5 hours a day on Saturdays and Sundays. However, the employee J.D. Brownlee alleges that he never received overtime compensation for the hours worked in excess of 40 hours during any one work week.

The Southeast Texas Record reports that J.D. Brownlee is claiming violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) in a lawsuit against Pace Opportunity Centers Inc. The suit was reportedly filed on October 19 in the Eastern District of Texas, Tyler Division.

Debt Consultant Sues Employer For Unpaid Overtime Wages

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One of the most common reasons for a person to hire a Houston employment lawyer is because of a dispute over wages, in particular unpaid overtime wages. The Southeast Texas Record reports that a former debt collector is now suing his former employer CreditAnswers on behalf of a proposed class for not paying overtime wages when he and other debt consultants routinely worked more than 40 hours per week.

A former assistant store manager at a Palm Beach Tan salon has filed a federal class action lawsuit against the company, alleging that the company has failed to pay its employees overtime wages. The Southeast Texas Record reports that the suit was filed in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division and that the suit accuses the tanning salon chain of misclassifying some employees as exempt from overtime pay.

Female Managers Still Receive Less Pay Than Male Managers

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In the 21st century, it may seem like women have more rights in the workplace than ever before. However, a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office states that female managers in the United States are paid only 81 cents for every dollar earned by male managers.

According to Reuters, the wage gap between men and women has narrowed slightly as women managers were only making only 79 cents for each man's dollar in the year 2000. The median salary for female managers in 2007 was $52,000, compared to $75,000 for male managers.

Worker Sues After Being Required To Show Up To Job Early

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It's illegal for an employer to require workers to show up early to a job without pay. The Southeast Texas Record reports that one woman who worked in the scaffolding department at the BP plant in Texas City is now suing her employer, claiming that she was required to report for duty at least 10 minutes prior to her actual start time of 7 a.m. Yet she claims that she was not compensated for the extra time.

What is the Texas Payday Law?

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In the Lone Star State, there are labor laws that state when an employee is to be paid. As stated in Chapter 61 of the Texas Labor Code, otherwise known as the Texas Payday Law, employees in Texas must be paid at least once a month. Employees that are not exempt from overtime provisions must be paid at least twice a month and the semi-monthly pay periods must consist as nearly as possible of an equal number of days.

The Texas Workforce Commission reports that all business entities, regardless of size, are covered by this law. However, public employers are exempt from the provisions. Under the law, employers must display notices in a conspicuous place that indicate when paydays are. If the employer does not designate paydays, then the employer's paydays are supposed to be the 1st and 15th day of each month.

Corrections Officers Sue Jefferson County Over Unpaid Wages

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A jury trial has been requested in a case where Jefferson County corrections officers are suing Jefferson County to obtain compensation for the overtime hours they claim they worked during Hurricane Ike in September 2008. The Southeast Texas Record reports that the Jefferson County Association of Deputy Sheriffs and Corrections Officers filed suit on September 7 in the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division.