While areas of employment disputes and complaints like sexual harassment, discrimination and other violations are getting significant attention in Minnesota and across the nation, one of the most common reasons for a legal complaint is still wage discrimination and wage theft. When workers are not paid what they are owed or do not get the benefits they are entitled to, they have the right to seek a legal resolution with help from an experienced employment law firm.
A new law that recently went into effect in the state sets out to hold companies responsible for not paying their workers and with it, construction workers are seeking wages they were not paid. The law became effective on July 1. The number of state investigators that examine allegations of wage theft has doubled. There will be a rise in investigations and the penalties for employer violations are more severe.
According to statistics, nearly $12 million has been withheld from 39,000 workers in the state annually. The construction workers who are seeking their wages say the employer did not pay them thousands of dollars after they took part in a project to build affordable housing. It was worth $40 million and residents are moving in. The company says it is not responsible as it hired a contractor that hired the workers.
For workers who are hired for a job, there is an understandable expectation that they will receive the wages they are supposed to. It is against the law for employers to violate their rights by not paying them for services rendered and other benefits. Still, employers do try to do this and workers must use every strategy at their disposal to get what they are owed.
The new law that has been implemented is in place to help workers get their wages. For people who are in a similar situation as the construction workers in this case, it is imperative to have legal assistance from a law firm that handles employee rights, employment discrimination, wage discrimination and other aspects of employment law.