VIOLATIONS OF WAGE AND HOUR LAWS
 

Minimum Wage

Iowa’s minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, and most employers are required to pay most employees at least that minimum wage for each hour worked.

Hourly Employees

Some employees must be paid by the hour. If you are an hourly employee and work over 40 hours in a workweek, you must be paid overtime equal to 1 and 1/2 times your regular wage.  If you are an hourly employee and do not receive overtime pay for hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek, you may be entitled to 2 years of past overtime wages, and in some situations 3 years of past overtime wages.     

Exempt Salaried Employees

Other employees may be salaried rather than paid by the hour.  These employees, often managers and professionals, are considered to be “exempt” employees, and may not be entitled to overtime. Not every employee can be considered “exempt.” 

Comp Time

Some employers try to give employees “comp time.”  However, the only employer who can give “comp time” is the government.  

Examples of wage and hour law violations include: 

  • Your employer improperly classifying you as “exempt”
  • Your employer classifying you as “exempt” and then docking your pay because you were absent from work for time periods of less than one day
  • Your employer requiring you to perform tasks before you clock in or after you clock out, but not paying you for those tasks
  • Your employer requiring you to perform tasks during your unpaid lunch break, but not paying you for those tasks
  • Your paycheck being lower than the hours you worked
  • Your paycheck bouncing when you try to cash it
  • Your employer making unauthorized deductions from your paycheck
  • After you quit or were fired, your employer failing to pay you for time you worked or for your earned vacation time
Retaliation

It is against the law for your employer to retaliate against you because you make a complaint concerning overtime pay, minimum wage, unauthorized deductions from your pay or other wage and hour violations. 

All information on our website is meant to be generally informative.  To find out whether you may have a case for wage and hour violations, you should consult a lawyer of your choice.