Backpay issue.

A Dabble Of Thelonius

Here's the quick and dirty. Myself and several other employees were just informed that we have been underpaid for the last year. When asked about backpay for underpayment, we were told that we were but entitled backpay.
This send iffy to me, but I'm no labor law expert. Hopefully someone here is. So what's up with this, H&A?
State - Florida
Employer Sacred Heart Health Systems/ Ascension Health.

I'll be checking back on this when I can. Currently at work dealing with situation on the fly. Any help would be appreciated

Enc

I assume "but" is supposed to be "not".

Do you have your hire agreement/contract? Does it specifically detail out your total compensation?

bowen

I believe the general rule of thumb is you're entitled to backpay plus interest.

http://www.opm.gov/oca/pay/backpay/backpay.asp

Seems the current rate is about 4%.

So $2000 in back pay would be, $2080, then subtract taxes.

bowen

Get in touch with your local DoL and possibly a lawyer. That's illegal. If they're going bankrupt (I don't think they are) you may not see the money.

A Dabble Of Thelonius

Yes, that should have been not.

Bowen - As I thought. Further deets as I have time. Thanks

bowen

Granted my link is for a gov't branch but every place I've worked at was bound to give interest back at a fair market rate and you were definitely owed payment if you were underpayed, there's no way out of that really.

Cabezone

Are you part of a union or have a personal contract that states your salary? If not then you are not likely owed any kind of back pay.

Unless the owed pay is for overtime or you were making less than minimum wage.

bowen

Most people have an hourly rate on their paystub, if they were underpaid by that hourly rate then they are still owed it regardless of contract or union protections.

Just like they can't tell you to come in on Saturday and not pay you because it's "not in your contract suckas." Exempt employees are another thing, but something tells me OP is not exempt. If I get $10 an hour and only got paid $9, that is money owed. There's no real legal way out of it except bankruptcy and I don't know where this line of thinking comes from.

Cabezone

Right and the paycheck is generated off that hourly rate. There's not going to be a mismatch there.

The OP should indicate how he was underpaid. I have a feeling it was just them paying him less than they normally would for that position.

A Dabble Of Thelonius

Hourly rate on the paystub. Not below minimum wage.

Seems I have the ammo to handle this efficiently now. Thanks gents

amateurhour

This was a long time ago, but when I worked big box retail I was looking over my manager's shoulder one day while he was doing something and it pulled up my profile and I was making about 7.50 an hour (minimum was still around 5 and some change) and it said I was supposed to be making like 9.75 an hour because of the time I had worked there.

They had just ignored it to save money....

So I called him on it, and I got back pay for like 8 months plus interest, and this was in a fire at will (or right to work, or whatever you call it where you're not really protected) state.

Just for what it's worth.

Cabezone

A good employer will do the right thing and pay you the owed money. Whats up for discussion is if the OP's company is required to.

EDIT: They already said they were not going to do the right thing. So it's important to know if they are breaking a law. If they simply paid a lower hourly rate than they would normally for that position, it's not illegal. It's just a dick move.

A Dabble Of Thelonius

Well they are far from a good employer, but we shall see.

amateurhour

Can you give some details on how you were informed you were underpaid?

A Dabble Of Thelonius

Verbally, called into office with other employees.

We're good though. Payroll manager folded like a suit made of dominos. I think they were hoping to go up against laziness and ignorance.

Thanks for the speedy replies.

ceres

People are remarkably spry about not getting dicked out of money.

bowen

Yeah you'd be surprised at how often the paystub says "$10.00 an hour" and someone fat fingers that in the actual accounting software as $9.00 an hour, or, never remembers to up it in a raise. Honestly, it happens a lot. Best to calculate it yourself every now and again to make sure, just to make sure it's not saying one thing and showing another.