Labor laws exist to ensure employees get proper treatment in their work environments and their rights as employees are protected. The Orlando economy has shown the job market increase by 3.9%, whereas the national average is 3.7%.
As an employee, you need to understand your work responsibilities and rights concerning work conditions and pay. This article discusses a few critical things about labor laws in Orlando.
Minimum Wages
Minimum wages refer to the minimum remuneration an individual should get for work performed during a given period. Every state has a limit for minimum wages for different categories of jobs. The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has increased the minimum wage from $8.46 to $8.56 an hour. For employees who also earn tips, the minimum wage is set to $5.44 an hour.
The government’s objective of setting a minimum wage is to protect workers from unduly payment. If you feel the wages you are receiving are less than mentioned above, you need to contact labor laws attorneys.
Overtime Wages
Overtime wage laws are only applicable to non-exempt employees. It would help if you clearly understand exempt and non-exempt employees to understand your rights to overtime wages.
What Is an Exempt Employee?
An exempt employee refers to a category of workers who are not entitled to receive minimum wages or overtime pay. Salaried employees are exempt employees, while individuals working on hourly wages are considered non-exempt workers.
The labor laws in Orlando require employers to pay their non-exempt workers a minimum overtime wage of $12.84 per hour. If a non-exempt has worked for more than 40 hours in a week, he/she is entitled to get overtime pay for extra hours.
Working Hours
The Florida wage and labor laws state 10 hours as a legal day for people who work by day, week, or year. If any individual has worked for more than 10 hours in a day, he/she is entitled to receive additional pay. However, if the employee has signed an agreement that less or more hours would count as a day of work, the employer need not pay overtime.
For people working hourly in interstate commerce jobs, the minimum workweek is 40 hours. If they work for more than 40 hours in a week, they can demand additional pay at a rate of 1 ½ of regular pay.
Reduction in Employees Pay
The employer has the right to reduce employee’s pay in certain circumstances, like if the employee does not turn up for a week.
Florida labor laws do not state any circumstances in which an employer can reduce or withhold your payment. Due to the lack of labor laws related to deduction and withholding of payment, your employer can withhold or reduce payment in the following circumstances.
- Breakage or loss to the employer’s property
- Shortage of cash
- Returned or dishonored checks
- Required uniforms
However, the Federal law states, the employer cannot make the deductions mentioned above if the employee earns below Florida’s minimum wage limit for the given period.
To sum up, labor laws are often complicated, and you need a labor law attorney to intercept them in the right manner. If you feel your rights as an employee in terms of pay or working conditions are not protected, you need to contact an attorney to get you justice.
