Chicago Wage and Hour Attorney

Unpaid Overtime

Many nonexempt employees must receive one and one-half times their regular rate for hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Paying a salary, using a job title such as “manager,” or treating someone as a professional does not automatically eliminate overtime rights. Exemptions depend on actual pay arrangements and job duties.

Potential issues include straight-time pay for overtime hours, averaging hours across workweeks, excluding bonuses from the regular-rate calculation, or recording fewer hours than an employee actually worked.

Off-the-Clock Work

Compensable work may occur before clock-in, after clock-out, during an unpaid meal period, or away from the workplace. Examples can include opening or closing tasks, required preparation, work calls and messages, security or equipment procedures, and completing records after a shift. Whether a specific activity must be paid depends on the facts and applicable law.

Employee Misclassification

Two common forms of misclassification are treating an employee as overtime-exempt and labeling a worker an independent contractor. Courts and agencies look beyond labels and tax forms. They may examine actual duties, control, opportunity for profit or loss, investment, permanence, integration into the business, and other factors under the governing test.

Minimum Wage, Tips, and Deductions

Chicago, Illinois, and federal minimum-wage rules can overlap. Tip-credit requirements, tip pooling, uniform costs, cash shortages, equipment charges, and other deductions may create issues. An employer generally cannot use deductions or tip practices to evade required minimum wages.

Commissions and Final Compensation

Illinois law may protect earned wages, commissions, bonuses, and other final compensation, depending on the agreement and when the compensation was earned. Commission plans, offer letters, policies, payroll records, and past payment practices can be especially important.

Records That Can Help

• Pay stubs, timecards, schedules, and payroll portal screenshots
• Offer letters, compensation plans, handbooks, and job descriptions
• Emails, texts, login records, call logs, or system timestamps showing work time
• Personal calendars or contemporaneous notes of hours worked
• Names of coworkers with similar schedules or pay practices
• Termination paperwork and final paycheck information

Preserve records lawfully and do not take confidential information you are not entitled to keep. If the employer’s records are inaccurate, a consistent reconstruction of hours may still be useful.

Retaliation for Raising Pay Concerns

Employees may have protection when they ask about wages, report suspected violations, participate in an investigation, or pursue a wage claim. Reduced hours, discipline, threats, or termination after a complaint can raise a separate retaliation issue.

Deadlines and Possible Relief

Deadlines and remedies vary by law and claim. Potential relief may include unpaid wages, overtime premiums, statutory damages, penalties, interest, and attorney’s fees. No result is guaranteed, and a careful calculation requires accurate dates, hours, rates, and payment records.

Request a Wage Case Review

If you believe you were not paid correctly, contact Karlin Legal or call (312) 870-0043 for a confidential review.

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