How to I begin the process of retrieving pay for hours worked that my employer has been secretly deducting from my paycheck?

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How to I begin the process of retrieving pay for hours worked that my employer has been secretly deducting from my paycheck?

I’ve discovered that my employer has been deducting 4 hours from my time worked every week. Every other employee has 2.5 deducted for lunch 30 minutes a day for a 5 day week. I

haven’t spoken to my boss about this because I need a job and I’m afraid he’ll terminate my employment. I’ve purposely worked through lunch some days to see any correlation and have

found none even if I take 2 days off in a week I still lose 4 hours.

Asked on April 28, 2016 under Employment Labor Law, Mississippi

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 7 years ago | Contributor

An employer must keep accurate time records for hourly employees and pay them for all work done. The first step would be speaking--respectfully and reasonably--to your employer; this could, after all, be a bookkeeping error or glitch in the time-keeping software, etc., and the employer may correct it if you bring it to their attention.
If the employer will not voluntarily correct the situation and pay you the money you are owed, you could file a wage and hour complaint with your state department of labor. If the dept. investigates and substantiates your complaint, you could potentially collect all unpaid back wages for up to the last two (2) years.


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