McAllen Wage and Hours Lawyer

Many wage and hours disputes are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a bill originally signed in 1938 that initiated minimum wage laws, established provisions for overtime pay, and outlawed child labor. Since then, through a series of amendments, the original meaning of the bill has been updated to keep up with changing social ideas of what “fair labor standards” means. Most amendments brought minimum wage up to a livable level with respect to contemporary economic conditions, while others changed or added rules, like the 1963 Equal Pay Act, which provided “equal pay for equal work” and the 2004 FairPay bill, which redefined overtime rules. It’s a lot to keep track of, but employers are bound to these rules.

Disputes often happen around overtime benefits, when an employee is on the clock, independent contractor status. Employers in these cases tend to argue for exemption from overtime obligations based on specific lines from the current text of the FLSA, that employees are not eligible for pay for some work they have done, and that the employees are not employees per se but are actually independent contractors completing specific tasks for the company, after which the working relationship will be terminated. Each of these results in lost wages for the employee, either through underpayment, nonpayment, or implications in the tax code.

Get Help Get Your Wages Back

Michael Pruneda of the Pruneda Law Firm, P.L.L.C. is a McAllen employment lawyer with a history of handling these cases for beleaguered employees. Through work with the Texas Workforce Commission—Wage Division and the National Employment Lawyers Association, he has accumulated experience fighting for exactly what the FLSA demands, that is, fair labor standards. Employers have an economic incentive to cheat, which makes the battle for employee rights an uphill one. However, it is a winnable one.

If you or anyone you know is involved in a wages and hours dispute, call McAllen employment lawyers of the Pruneda Law Firm at 956-702-9675.