Wage & Hour Rights: What Your Employer Must Pay You
Millions of workers are underpaid every year — often without realizing it. Off-clock work, unreimbursed expenses, and misclassified remote arrangements are among the most common wage violations. This guide explains what the law requires.
The Law That Governs Your Pay
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is the primary federal law governing wages and hours. It sets the federal minimum wage, requires overtime pay for non-exempt employees, and restricts child labor. Most states have their own wage and hour laws that provide additional protections — and when state law is more generous than federal law, the state standard applies.
The FLSA covers most private-sector employees, as well as federal, state, and local government workers. Whether you are covered depends on your employer's size and the nature of your work — but the vast majority of workers qualify.
Wage theft — the failure to pay workers what they are legally owed — is the most common labor violation in the United States. It takes many forms: unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, illegal deductions, and failure to reimburse required expenses. Many workers don't realize they are victims because the violations are subtle or normalized in their workplace.
Off-Clock Work: When You Must Be Paid
"Off-the-clock" work refers to any work performed outside of recorded work hours — before clocking in, after clocking out, during unpaid breaks, or outside of scheduled shifts. Under the FLSA, employers must compensate employees for all hours that are "suffered or permitted" — meaning any work the employer knew about or should have known about, even if it wasn't explicitly requested.
Common Off-Clock Violations
Pre-shift preparation
Setting up equipment, booting computers, reviewing assignments, or donning required gear before the clock starts.
Post-shift wrap-up
Completing paperwork, closing out registers, cleaning workstations, or filing reports after clocking out.
Answering messages after hours
Responding to work emails, texts, or calls outside of scheduled hours — especially if expected or required.
Working through unpaid breaks
Eating lunch at your desk while working, or being interrupted during a meal break to handle work tasks.
Training and meetings
Mandatory training sessions, safety meetings, or team calls held outside of paid hours.
Travel time
Travel between job sites during the workday is compensable. Commuting to and from home generally is not — but there are exceptions.
The "I didn't ask them to work" defense doesn't hold up
Employers cannot benefit from work they know is being performed and then refuse to pay for it. If a manager sees an employee working off the clock and says nothing, that is "suffering or permitting" the work — and it must be compensated.
Expense Reimbursement: What Employers Must Cover
Federal law under the FLSA does not explicitly require expense reimbursement — but it does require that wages not fall below minimum wage after deducting business expenses. In practice, this means that if unreimbursed expenses effectively reduce your pay below minimum wage, the employer has violated the FLSA.
Many states go further. California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Montana, Iowa, and several others have explicit statutes requiring employers to reimburse employees for all necessary business expenses. In these states, the obligation is clear and enforceable regardless of your wage level.
Commonly Disputed Expenses
Vehicle & Mileage
- Driving between job sites or client locations
- Using a personal vehicle for deliveries or service calls
- Parking and tolls incurred for work travel
Phone & Internet
- Using a personal cell phone for work calls, texts, or email
- Home internet used for remote work
- Data overages caused by work use
Tools & Equipment
- Personal tools required for the job
- Uniforms or required clothing (especially if not usable outside work)
- Safety equipment not provided by the employer
Home Office
- Desk, chair, monitor, or other furniture purchased for remote work
- Printer, ink, and paper for work use
- Software subscriptions required by the employer
California employees: stronger protections apply
Under California Labor Code § 2802, employers must reimburse employees for all necessary expenditures incurred in the discharge of their duties. This is one of the broadest expense reimbursement laws in the country — and it applies regardless of whether the employer had a written reimbursement policy. Delshad Legal handles expense reimbursement claims for California employees.
Remote & Work-From-Home Arrangements
Remote work has created a new category of wage and hour disputes. When the office is your home, the boundaries between work time and personal time blur — and employers sometimes exploit that ambiguity. The law, however, is clear: the FLSA applies equally to remote workers. If you are non-exempt, you must be paid for all hours worked, wherever you work them.
Key Issues for Remote Workers
Tracking and recording hours
Employers are required to keep accurate records of hours worked — including for remote employees. If your employer uses a timekeeping system that rounds down, auto-clocks you out, or doesn't capture all your work time, you may be owed back wages. Keep your own records.
After-hours availability expectations
Being "on call" or expected to respond to messages outside your scheduled hours may constitute compensable work time, depending on how restrictive the requirement is. If you are required to remain near your phone and respond within minutes, that time may need to be paid.
Home office expenses
If your employer requires you to work from home and you purchase equipment, furniture, or services to do so, you may be entitled to reimbursement — especially in states like California. The fact that you "chose" to work from home does not eliminate the obligation if the employer required or benefited from it.
Internet and phone costs
Using your personal internet connection and cell phone for work is a business expense. In states with mandatory reimbursement laws, employers must cover a reasonable portion of these costs — even if they don't have a formal reimbursement policy.
Multi-state remote work complications
If you work remotely from a state different from where your employer is based, the wage laws of the state where you perform the work typically apply. This can mean stronger protections than your employer's home state provides.
Watch out for "productivity monitoring" overreach
Some employers use software to monitor remote workers' activity and dock pay for periods of inactivity. If this monitoring results in you being paid for fewer hours than you actually worked, it may constitute a wage violation. The FLSA requires payment for all hours worked — not just hours spent actively typing.
Overtime: The 1.5x Rule and Its Exceptions
Under the FLSA, non-exempt employees must receive overtime pay of at least 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. This is not optional — employers cannot waive it, and employees cannot agree to forgo it.
The "regular rate of pay" is not simply your hourly wage. It includes most forms of compensation: hourly wages, salary, commissions, non-discretionary bonuses, and shift differentials. Employers sometimes miscalculate overtime by using only the base hourly rate, which can result in underpayment.
Common Overtime Violations
Salaried doesn't mean exempt
Many employees are told they are "salaried" and therefore not entitled to overtime. This is often wrong. To be exempt from overtime under the FLSA, an employee must meet both a salary threshold (currently $684/week as of 2024) and a duties test — their job must primarily involve executive, administrative, or professional work. Simply paying someone a salary does not make them exempt.
Worker Misclassification
One of the most consequential wage and hour issues is worker misclassification — when an employer treats an employee as an independent contractor to avoid paying overtime, benefits, and employment taxes. Misclassification is widespread, particularly in gig economy, construction, trucking, and service industries.
Whether you are an employee or an independent contractor is determined by the economic reality of your relationship — not by what your contract says or what your employer calls you. Courts and agencies look at factors including:
- The degree of control the employer has over how you do your work
- Whether your work is integral to the employer's core business
- Whether you have the opportunity for profit or loss based on your own business decisions
- Whether you have invested in your own tools, equipment, or facilities
- The permanency of the relationship
- Whether you work for multiple clients or primarily for one company
If you are misclassified, you may be owed back overtime pay, minimum wage violations, unreimbursed expenses, and potentially benefits you were denied. The statute of limitations for FLSA claims is two years (three for willful violations), so acting promptly matters.
What to Do If You're Owed Wages
Document everything now
Start keeping a personal log of your hours worked, including off-clock time. Save pay stubs, timesheets, emails about work expectations, and any records of expenses you paid out of pocket. The more contemporaneous your records, the stronger your claim.
Calculate what you're owed
Compare your actual hours worked (including off-clock time) against what you were paid. For overtime, check whether your employer correctly calculated your regular rate and applied the 1.5x multiplier. For expenses, total up what you spent on required business costs.
Know your filing options
You can file a wage claim with the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division (WHD), your state's labor agency, or file a private lawsuit. Private lawsuits can recover back wages, an equal amount in liquidated damages, and attorney's fees — meaning you may owe nothing out of pocket.
Watch your deadlines
Federal FLSA claims must be filed within 2 years of the violation (3 years for willful violations). State law deadlines vary — California allows 3 years for wage claims. Missing the deadline can permanently bar your claim, so act promptly.
Consult an employment attorney
Wage and hour attorneys typically work on contingency — they take a percentage of the recovery, with no upfront cost to you. Many wage claims can be brought as class actions on behalf of all affected employees, which increases leverage significantly.
Retaliation for wage complaints is illegal
The FLSA prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who file wage complaints, cooperate with investigations, or participate in wage-related lawsuits. If you are fired, demoted, or otherwise punished for asserting your wage rights, that retaliation is itself an additional legal violation.
This page is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Wage and hour laws vary significantly by state and change over time. Consult a qualified employment attorney about your specific situation.
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California Employees
California has some of the strongest wage and hour protections in the country — including mandatory expense reimbursement, daily overtime, and meal/rest break requirements.
Consult Delshad LegalThink You're Owed Wages?
Use our free tools to document your situation and assess your options — or find an employment attorney who can evaluate your claim at no upfront cost.