• Minimum Wage Violations: Your employer pays you a lump sum for your work. When you divide your pay by the number of hours you have worked, however, your hourly rate is less than minimum wage.

  Example ... You work as a courier in Boston and your employer pays you $10 per delivery. Your typical work day consists of eight hours, but you only average about three deliveries each day. After doing the math, you realize that you are getting paid $3.75 per hour. The minimum wage in Massachusetts is $7.50 per hour (and will increase to $8.00 per hour on January 1, 2008).

• Unpaid Straight-Time Wages: Your employer requests that you punch out and "work off the clock".

  Example ... Your supervisor states that work assigned to you should have been completed during your shift. You are pressured to complete the work after your shift ends and after you have clocked out. In another example, you are not paid for the time you attend mandatory work meetings or for working through lunch and breaks.

• Unpaid Overtime Wages: The mere fact that you are an employee paid on a salaried basis does not automatically preclude you from overtime pay. Rather, whether you are entitled to overtime is determined by the nature of your job and the type of employer.

  Example ... You are a secretary and paid an annual salary. Your boss requires that you work beyond 40 hours per week without any additional compensation. Under federal and state law, you are entitled to 1.5 times your regular hourly pay where you work above 40 hours per week as an "exempt" employee.

• Misclassification as an Independent Contractor: An employer that improperly classifies you as independent contractors deprives you of several benefits, including Social Security contributions and Worker's Compensation insurance. In 2004, the Massachusetts legislature amended the Commonwealth's Independent Contractor Law. The amendment creates a greater presumption of employment and excludes far more workers from independent contractor status. The Independent Contractor Law requires an employer to satisfy three requirements in order to classify a worker as an "independent contractor" instead of an "employee" in Massachusetts. First, a worker must be free from an employer's direction and control such that duties are performed with independence and autonomy. Second, the worker's job must be performed "outside the usual course of business of the employer." Third, an independent contractor must have characteristics of an independent business enterprise and represent him or herself to the public in this manner.

It is illegal for an employer to terminate or demote an employee who exercises his or her rights under state and federal wage and hour laws.

Conforto Law Group assists individuals with wage and hour issues. To arrange a consultation with a lawyer, contact Conforto Law Group online or at (617) 721-9139.

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