The West Virginia Division of Labor (DOL) is responsible for investigating potential violations of state wages and hours laws.
While West Virginia employers aren’t required to provide their employees with fringe benefits, companies are required to abide by the policies that they do put in writing regarding them. Employees may sue their employer who fails to pay these earned fringe benefits to collect any monies due. West Virginians commonly reach out to the state DOL office to collect bonuses and similar incentives, holiday, vacation and/or annual and sick leave that’s gone unpaid.
West Virginia residents also reach out to the DOL when they have a variety of wage complaints.
A worker who isn’t paid after for the final hours that they worked after resigning a role may file suit. Employees often sue their employers for taking authorized deductions from their paycheck, not paying them for all hours that they worked (such as a mandatory meeting or training) and for failing to pay commission that they’re owed.
It’s common for workers to sue their employers for reducing their pay without notifying them in advance or for paying them less than the state minimum wage. Employees also sue their employers for failing to pay them for their travel between one location and another during a single workday. Workers also file lawsuits against the companies in cases in which their paychecks bounce due to their employer having insufficient funds in their account to pay them.
Workers also file suit against employers for nonmonetary reasons. This may happen when an employee is given a shorter break than they’re entitled to under the law, their pay is late and/or isn’t remitted consistently or workers aren’t provided with detailed pay statements.
Deciding to take legal action against your employer takes a lot of courage, especially if you plan to continue working for them in the long term. What you may not realize is that your colleagues are being shortchanged too. A class-action attorney may be able to bring you and your co-workers together and file a lawsuit on your behalf here in Charleston.