Muslim Lawyers for Employees Being Denied Full Wages in Cook County, Surrounding Areas, and Maryland

If you put in a full day’s work, but your employer does not pay you what you deserve, the employer is stealing from you.

As a Pakistani-American Muslim who worked various jobs before law school (including pumping gas at a gas station for minimum wage, in the old days when gas stations were full service), Attorney Kamran Memon knows that you count on your paycheck and that it can be devastating to have your employer steal from you.

Your Rights Under Wage & Hour Laws

• Minimum Wage – Most employees are covered by minimum wage laws. The minimum wage for most employees in Chicago is $13.50 per hour for employers with 4 to 20 workers, and $14 per hour for employers with 21 or more workers. Outside Chicago, most employees must be paid at least $11.00 per hour.
• Payment for All Hours Worked – Employers must pay most employees for coming in early, staying late, going through security, putting on or taking off clothes or gear, setting up or cleaning up, roll-call, pre-shift meetings, and work done off the job site or at home.
• Overtime Pay – Most employees are covered by overtime laws, including many employees who are paid a salary. Covered employees must receive overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours per week. The employer must pay those employees 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for each hour worked above 40 hours in a week.
• Employees Misclassified as Managers – Minimum wage and overtime laws do not apply to employees whose primary duties involve real managerial authority, employees whose primary duties involve exercising discretion and independent judgment on important matters, employees whose primary duties require advanced knowledge acquired through education, employees whose primary duties involve offsite sales, and employees whose primary duties involve working as computer professionals. To avoid paying minimum wage and overtime, many employers misclassify their employees by claiming that the employees have the above-mentioned primary duties when they actually have other primary duties.
• Employees Misclassified as Independent Contractors – Minimum wage and overtime laws do not apply to independent contractors whose wages are reported to the IRS on Form 1099 (instead of Form W2). Independent contractors are self-employed, and they have the freedom to determine what work to do and how to do it. Many employers misclassify their employees as independent contractors to avoid paying minimum wage and overtime.
• Tipped Employees – If employees receive tips from customers, those tips belong to the employees. However, upon notice by the employer to the employees, the employer can use those tips as a credit toward the employer’s minimum wage obligations. The employer can pay its tipped employees partially reduced wages if the tipped employees receive sufficient tips to make up the difference between the reduced hourly wages paid by the employer and minimum wage. (Although tips are the property of the employee, an employer can require tipped employees to share their tips with other tipped employees.)
• Deductions from Paychecks – An employer may not take deductions from an employee’s paycheck (for things like uniforms, background checks, meals, or transportation) without the employee’s prior written permission.
• Receiving Earned Vacation Pay at the End of Employment – If an employer provides paid vacation to employees, then the employer must pay an employee for any unused vacation time when the employee quits or gets fired.

If your employer has not paid you properly, the Law Offices of Kamran Memon and our network of lawyers can assist you.

Contact a Chicago Area Lawyer for Unpaid Wages

Our network of Chicago Muslim lawyers has successfully represented many people whose wages have been stolen.

You can contact us at 312-961-2354.

Contact a Maryland Area Lawyer for Unpaid Wages

Our network of Maryland Muslim lawyers has successfully represented many people whose wages have been stolen.

You can contact us at 443-529-3443.