Your job is your livelihood and you have the right to be paid fairly for honest work. When employers break the law by engaging in wage theft and illegal pay practices, they have to answer to Sommers Schwartz.

The Michigan wage and overtime attorneys of Sommers Schwartz have outlined some of the most widely used tactics used to cheat workers out of their due wages and overtime and how to recover lost income.

Employers are not always honest and sometimes find ways to cheat their workers out of the money they owe them. Some common ways they do this include requiring employees to work off the clock, illegal tip pooling, failing to reimburse for expenses and mileage, and misclassifying workers as independent contractors. The Michigan wage and overtime attorneys at Sommers Schwartz can help you recover your stolen pay from an employer.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Narrator
Your job is your livelihood and you have the right to be paid fairly for honest work. When employers break the law by engaging in wage theft and illegal pay practices, they have to answer to Sommers Schwartz. We’ve helped thousands of hourly workers across the United States recover more than $80 million in unpaid wages and overtime, mostly through class actions. The most cost-effective way to obtain compensation for large numbers of similarly mistreated employees.

Wage theft testimonial
I work hard and I expect to be paid for the time that I put in. When I suspected that my employer was withholding wages and overtime pay, I called Sommers Schwartz. The lawyers at Sommers Schwartz know all the ways companies commit wage theft by failing to compensate employees for off the clock work. Sometimes, employers misclassify employees as independent contractors to avoid paying overtime or providing benefits.

Some employers don’t pay workers travel time or mileage between job sites or for reading and responding to emails after hours. Some employers make employees work through meal breaks and rest periods without pay. I worked at home as a call center agent and the company would only pay me for the time I was logged into the computer network, even though they required me to perform tasks before I signed in and after I signed out.

If I got kicked out of the system, I was never paid for the time that I spent dealing with technical support to get back on. That often amounted to several minutes a day for which I deserved overtime pay. I didn’t think there was any way I could bring an individual lawsuit against my employer. I needed my job and I was scared I would get fired for speaking up.

Sommers Schwartz represented me in a class action lawsuit with employees in a similar situation at the company who are also victims of wage abuse. The lawyers protected us against any retaliation, which put my mind at ease. The wage and overtime attorneys at Sommers Schwartz obtained three and a half million dollars in back pay for my coworkers and I can’t thank them enough.

Narrator
Companies use various techniques such as requiring employees to work off-the-clock for no pay. Illegal tip pooling, failing to reimburse for job-related expenses and misclassifying employees as independent contractors. We know, because we caught them and held them accountable.

Matthew Turner
Every case is a win or lose proposition, and I like to win and I like to see my clients win. And I really think that’s what drives me.

Jason Thompson
There’s that one chance you have to hold the defendant accountable. And you want to go out with a win, you want to close with a win. And our firm wins a lot.

Narrator
Many workers are afraid to speak up about wage abuse, fearing that they will lose their jobs. We make sure your employment is protected and that your employer doesn’t retaliate against you.

Tad Roumayah
Attorneys that do this kind of work are usually not at law firms that have approximately 40 attorneys like we do. And so with all the attorneys and the support staff and other resources that we have as a firm, it makes us one of the largest firms in the state that does what we do on the plaintiff side.

Narrator
You and your family depend on your paycheck. When your employer doesn’t pay you the minimum wage or withholds overtime, you need a team of experienced lawyers to stand up for you and your coworkers and get you the money you’ve earned and deserve. You need Sommers Schwartz.