Employment Litigation Attorney in Boston, Massachusetts

What mistakes do you see businesses make in the area of wage and hour law?

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wait an hour litigation is really a very
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hot topic and it has been for the last
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several years and what I find employers
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doing is not fully appreciating the law
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quite frankly in the employment
00:18
relationship frequently employers try to
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treat employees as independent
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contractors where that situation really
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does not apply and other times they they
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do not pay employees all of the amounts
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that they’re do whether it’s
00:34
Commission’s whether it’s overtime pay
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and and oftentimes employers or not
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don’t mean to shortchange employees in
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any way but the employment laws wage and
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hour laws have a strong public policy in
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favor of the employees so there’s strict
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liability meaning that whether the
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employer has any intention to violate
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the law or any intention to harm the
01:00
employee or short change the employee is
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completely irrelevant the question is
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simply did a violation occur and if so
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the employee prevails and not only do
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they prevail but there are significant
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penalties oftentimes three times the
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wages that were not properly paid
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becomes the sanction as liquidated
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damages
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[Music]

Boston, MA commercial litigation attorney Robert R. Berluti talks about what mistakes businesses make that lead to wage and hour litigation. He explains that wage and hour litigation is a significant issue that employers often misunderstand. Employers sometimes misclassify employees as independent contractors and fail to pay employees their full wages, including commissions and overtime. Strict liability applies to wage and hour violations, meaning that employers’ intentions are irrelevant, and penalties can be severe, often three times the unpaid wages. The law strongly favors employees in these cases.

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