The state of New York has sued rapper, Jay-Z, for failing to pay $18,000 in workers’ compensation insurance, for a three month period in 2009, for people who are employed to work for him. A Jay-Z source blamed the lapse on a clerical error. Court documents reflect that he eventually got the correct insurance to cover these employees which include cooks, maids and drivers. Read Full Article

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, children and forced laborers produce 130 kinds of goods in 71 countries, and over 12 million people are victims of forced labor. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is administered by the Wage and Hour Division (WHD) which contains the standards for minimum wages, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor. Every employer covered by the FLSA must keep certain records for each worker. The records should be kept at the place of employment or in a central records office. Additionally, an employer must maintain records of information such as the employee’s full name, address, including zip code, birth date (if younger than 19), sex and occupation, time and day of week when employee’s workweek begins, hours worked each day and total hours worked each workweek, the basis on which employee’s wages are paid (e.g., “$9 per hour”, “$440 a week”, “piecework”, and the regular hourly pay rate to name a few. Employers are required to preserve payroll records for at least 3 years, collective bargaining agreements, and sales and purchase records. Records of wage computations should be retained for two years (such as time cards and piecework tickets, wage rate tables, work and time schedules, and records of additions to or deductions from wages). For a full listing of the types of records an employer must maintain, see the Wage and Hour Division Fact Sheet #21: Recordkeeping Requirements Under the FLSA.

If you or someone you know is not being fully compensated for all the time you work, or your employer has improperly calculated your hours worked, you may be entitled to overtime and additional compensation. Our office focuses on disputes dealing with overtime claims and wage and hour law violations, including violations resulting from improper wage and overtime calculations. For a consultation, contact Leeds Morelli & Brown, PC at 1-800-585-4658.