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| WAGES AND HOURS |
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If you are paid by the hour, your wages and hours are protected by federal law or state law. Under the law:
- You should receive the pay you have agreed to for each hour you work.
- You should be paid at least the minimum wage, currently $5.15 per hour.
- If you work more than 40 hours in any week, you should be paid at the higher rate of at least "time and a half."
In spite of the law, many workers are not paid the minimum wage, are not paid for all the hours they work, are not paid at the hourly wage they have agreed to, or are not paid overtime for hours over 40 they work in a week. These violations are especially common in the apparel, restaurant, and meat
processing industries, which are among North Carolina’s biggest employers.
In addition, even when they follow the law, employers in North Carolina have a lot of freedom with regard to worker's wages and hours.
According to the NC Department of Labor employers are free under the law to:
- Require overtime work even if it isn't scheduled.
- Pay the same wage on holidays or weekends as on regular work days.
- Make you work on holidays.
- Wait until the next regular payday to pay you even if you quit or are let go days or weeks before.
If you have a complaint about wages and hours, you can call the NC Department of Labor's Wage and Hours Bureau at 1-800-NC-LABOR. The person you talk to there is trained to decide how your complaint should be handled. The Wage and Hours Bureau investigates over 1000 complaints a year. Most of the cases they handle concern are complaints that employers: pay under the minimum wage; do not pay for the hours worked; do not pay promised overtime, vacation pay, commissions, or bonuses; do not reimburse expenses; or make unauthorized deductions from a paycheck. Many investigations do not include further input from the worker who filed the complaint. It takes an average of 45 days after a complaint to finish an investigation. There are many delays. Once they complete their investigation, you will receive a letter. The letter either will contain a check for pay they have determined you should receive and the employer has agreed to pay or notice that the employer has not agreed to pay. In that case, you do have the right to go to take the employer to court.
Resources about wages and hours:
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