Labor Law

Protecting Your Rights as an Employee

When employers improperly classify employees as exempt or fail to pay for overtime, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) comes into play. The FLSA protects employees from retaliation when they question their eligibility for overtime or complain about fair wages. While some executive, administrative, and professional personnel are exempt from being paid overtime, others have legally protected rights to overtime pay.

Other common labor law violations concern the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This law was designed to “prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce.”

At Moore Becker Smarto & Acosta, P.C, our team of experienced attorneys is ready to help preserve your labor law rights. In addition to Federal regulations there are state and even local laws that apply. In Pennsylvania, workers may be protected by:

• Pennsylvania’s minimum wage law, which currently sets the minimum wage at $7.25/hour and overtime at 1.5 times your regular rate of pay after 40 hours.
• The Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, which prevents discrimination in hiring, firing, terms of employment based on race, religion, ancestry, age, sex, national origin, or disability.
• Pennsylvania’s Payment of Wages to Employees Act, which provides that “every employer shall pay all wages, other than fringe benefits and wage supplements, due his/her employees on regularly scheduled paydays designated in advance by the employer.”
• PA’s Department of Labor & Industry’s General Safety Law. The General Safety Law covers a wide variety of employee safety issues for all workplaces, with exceptions for farms and private dwellings.
• The Worker and Community Right-to-Know Act ensures that “public sector employers and any other Non-OSHA covered employers must comply with the employees access to chemical information and training provisions applicable to their workplace environment.”
• The Prevailing Wage Act requires contractors engaged in public works to pay their workers a wage appropriate to their trade.

Having to stand up for your rights under federal and state labor laws can be a traumatic event. You need the professional help of the experienced labor law team at Moore Becker Smarto & Acosta, P.C.

Labor Law Trends

In 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic complicated labor law by introducing a variety of new challenges, including hazard pay requirements, work from home rules, mask wearing for employees and customers, etc.

Diversity and inclusion, as well as disability issues continue to provide legal complications, as well as medical marijuana usage now that many states have legalized medical and/or recreational use of the drub.

If you have a labor law issue, please don’t hesitate to call the team at Moore Becker Smarto & Acosta. Our firm has experience in a medical malpractice and a wide variety of service areas.

Call Moore Becker Smarto & Acosta, P.C. today at 724-838-8422.