In Illinois, all non-exempt hourly employees must earn at least the minimum wage and must be paid time and a half (“overtime”) for all hours in excess of forty per workweek. Minimum wage and overtime are governed by a number of state and federal statutes.
State, federal, and even some city laws require employees to be paid a minimum wage for all hours worked. Like many laws, there are some exceptions. One exception is restaurant wait staff who are paid in part with tips. Under some circumstances, they can be subject to a tipped minimum wage and their employer gets to claim a “tip credit.”
The Federal Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) contains provisions setting the federal minimum wage. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. The IMWL contains provisions setting the state minimum wage for Illinois, currently at $8.25 per hour ($4.95 per hour for tipped employees). If both the FLSA and the IMWL apply to an employee, the employee is entitled to earn the higher of the minimum wages set forth in the statutes.
The FLSA and Illinois Minimum Wage Law (“IMWL”) each contain overtime provisions that mandate that non-exempt hourly employees must be paid time and a half for all hours worked in excess of forty hours in one work week. An employee cannot waive his or her right to overtime compensation and must be compensated for all time worked. However, certain workers, particularly salaried employees, may be exempt from the overtime provisions.
The FLSA and IMWL apply to any employer of at least one employee and may apply to employees who have not been paid minimum wage, or who have not been paid for overtime work, time spent donning and/or doffing, meal time, travel time, or “off-the-clock” time worked. Employers who “round down” their employees’ clocked time may also face penalties under the FLSA and IMWL.
If an employer has violated the FLSA or IMWL, the employer may be subject to either an individual or class civil action in federal court. Under the FLSA and IMWL, an employee can collect unpaid wages for the period of two years preceding the filing of a complaint. If the employer knew of the violation and committed the violation willfully, the employer can recover one additional year of unpaid wages. Further, an employee is entitled to recover an amount equal to the unpaid wages in liquidated damages, as well as reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs.
For most others, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and the Illinois minimum wage is $10. The City of Chicago’s current minimum wage is currently $14 per hour for employers with less than 21 or fewer employees and $15 per hour for those with 21 or more employees.
Employers must also pay you for all hours worked. Often employers do not explicitly pay their employees by the hour and use gimmicky language to get around minimum wage laws. For example, cleaning services often pay employees per house cleaned. However, they do not pay their employees for all of the hours worked, so their average pay will fall below the federal, state, or city minimum wage.
If you are concerned that your employer is not paying you the full minimum wage, please contact one of our attorneys for a consultation.
