Large numbers of people in California and across the country rejoice in some fashion every Friday.
The reason, notwithstanding the obvious attraction of the immediately upcoming weekend: Friday is the customary pay day for many millions of Americans, and who doesn’t like to be paid?
Conversely, who condones for a moment any discontinuity that arises relating to pay? That is, what reasonable person who toils hard for a living would willingly put up for even an iota of time with an unexpected disruption of money owed for work done?
Any employee who dutifully holds up his or her side of the bargain reached with an employer by working diligently for an agreed-to wage has a rightful — and, even more importantly, a lawful — expectation that earned monies will be handed over promptly and in full, without departure from that routine — ever.
And that is exactly how things always work, in a perfect world.
Unfortunately, that universe has never existed, with many employees in California and across the country often finding themselves perplexed and angered by pay disruptions that they feel owe to an employer’s unethical and illegal behavior.
And they are often right. Company bosses sometimes short workers on pay checks. They fail to pay “promptly,” a requirement noted explicitly in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. They withhold owed pay for an unacceptably long period following termination of employment. They play games with employees who work for tips. They try to retroactively adjust pay downward.
Such are the machinations of unscrupulous employers, who engage in illegal pay-related behaviors across a broad spectrum.
As pointed out in a recent media article on employers’ circumvention of laws addressing the payment of workers, an aggrieved employee can take strong and purposeful action by contacting relevant state and federal officials.
That article notes that ripped-off employees “are protected by their government.”
An addendum to that observation might reasonably note that they are further protected through the legal advocacy provided by a proven employment law attorney who commands experience representing workers with wage-and-hour claims against employers that have acted in bad faith.