Connecticut Passes Law to Deter Wage Theft
If your business operates in Connecticut, failing to pay your employees minimum wage or overtime can now cost you double. On June 23, 2015, Governor Malloy signed a new wage theft law. If an employer fails to pay employees properly, the employees are entitled to twice the full amount of the minimum wage or overtime wages plus the cost of an attorney. The new law was implemented to deter wage theft.
Before the new legislation, employees had to prove their employer had “bad faith, arbitrariness or unreasonableness” in addition to wage theft. Thus, employees were rarely compensated for their employer’s wage theft. But under the new law, the burden of proof no longer falls on the employee. Instead, employers must prove that they “undertook specific investigation into how much constitutes a legal wage, and then somehow made a mistake.” The only way an employer can avoid double damages is to prove their “good faith” or that they sincerely believed the wages being paid were in compliance with the law.
How to Prevent Wage Theft Lawsuits
Connecticut isn’t the only state to pass severe anti-wage theft law, and there are even a few states that impose triple damages on employers who fail to pay their employees properly. Implementing an automated time and attendance system can help prevent a potential wage theft lawsuit.
- Ensure Correct Overtime Pay Calculations
A time and attendance system that factors in all applicable wage and hour rules eliminates any manual errors. And when it comes to complex pay rules and shift differentials, blended overtime rates are a breeze.
- Put Tight Controls on Time Card Changes
An unauthorized time card change is a common violation that can get you into trouble. Changes to time cards should only be done when absolutely necessary to maintain integrity of time and attendance records. A time and attendance system with variance reporting features can help you keep an eye on time card changes and prevent any possible violations.
- Maintain Digital Audit Trail
Maintaining detailed time and attendance records is key for protecting yourself against a wage and hour lawsuit. When you implement an automated time and attendance system, you have access to an on-demand audit trail that can prove you are paying your employees correctly.
EPAY’s flexible, cloud based time and attendance system can help you pay your employees correctly, so you can protect yourself from wage theft claims, and potentially paying double or triple damages. Learn how our BlueforceTM system can help you maintain compliance.
Want more? Download our guide, 10 Steps to Preventing Labor Lawsuits.