Wages form one of the most fundamental parts of our lives, but to a business, these wages are the greatest operation expense they have. For this reason, they often engage in various ways to avoid paying money to their employees, even when they are required to do so. This practice can become pronounced when there is a downturn in the economy or a specific industry. The following are a few examples of how this can occur.

You may not be getting all of your tips

In the restaurant industry, it is common to have tip pools. This is when all the tips are gathered together and distributed equally to the employees. However, certain people are not allowed to participate in these tip pools, namely managers. The tip pools are designed for servers such as waitresses, waiters, and bartenders. But there are many people who are not allowed to participate, including managers, to do so is against the law. If this is happening where you are working, you may be entitled to unpaid wages, along with other coworkers at your restaurant.

You may not be getting all of your commissions

Many salespeople work on commissions. Although there are many ways that an employer can cheat a worker out of one or more commissions, perhaps the most common is not paying them because they are no longer employed with the company. For example, if an employer pays commissions in the middle of the month for those earned in the previous month, you will get your check at that time. However, if you were terminated shortly afterward, you may earn commissions for the rest of the month. The next payment date comes, and instead of a check, you get nothing. Although you are owed money for the last two weeks after you were fired, you are told that the commissions came through after your termination, so the business claims they do not owe them to you.

You don't get all your pay when terminated

An employer will sometimes not pay an employee accrued vacation pay at the time of termination. Often an employee can be fired, and they are not thinking about anything other than the wages that are owed them, so they don't realize they have unpaid vacation pay that is owed them. Unpaid bonuses can sometimes be held back too, but this issue can be a problem when you are still employed with the business.

If you believe that you have unpaid wages, consider contacting an unpaid wages attorney. And never let the number of your unpaid wages deter you from hiring an attorney. Although an attorney will take a small percentage of the wages paid to you, their legal fees are paid by the employer when they lose the case. The laws are designed to help even those who are working for minimum wage.