Employment Issues

Failure to Pay Minimum Wages

The Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) maintains that most employers should:

• Pay a predetermined minimum wage. Current federal minimum wage is $5.15 per hour, but Congress is working on increasing this wage. California's minimum wage is $7.50 per hour, $8.00 per hour starting in 2008. If the state minimum wage is different than that of the federal, which is generally true in California, the employer must pay the higher of the two.
• Pay certain employees overtime for working longer than a 40-hour week.
• Pay the same wages to all employees who have the same job responsibilities, regardless of race, color, nationality, religion, sex, age, or disability. One co-worker can be paid more than another if his or her skills, education, background or other history warrant it. Moreover, if the jobs have different responsibilities, compensation levels can vary.

The Fair Labor Standards Act doesn't cover: 

• executives 
• professionals 
• administrative employees
• employees of small farms 
• computer specialists 
• apprentices
• fair wages

It also doesn't limit the number of hours an employer can require an employee to work (as long as the employee is paid for that time).