No matter what the job, no worker should be considered more deserving of employee rights than another worker. Certainly, there are workers who earn more pay than others, but no worker should have wages or overtime pay withheld that they rightfully earned by their own hard work. It is an unfortunate reality that labor violations are found in almost every area of employment all across the country. One of the most common violations is withholding wages, and violations like this can cause significant hardships on employees and damage company reputations.
A recent report was released which revealed the states with major hotel employment violations. One northern state reported on the findings as it was ranked fourth behind three other states, including Florida, in highest number of violations. Not paying employees their rightful wages seems to be the most common violation that hotels have been guilty of. When employers are found to be withholding wages, they can be required to pay employees for back wages and also face heavy fines and penalties.
Investigations into certain hotels have found multiple major violations and have prompted the Labor Department to perform more random checks in hopes that employers will fix their violations and keep them fixed. They have also found that employees are not always forthcoming with information about violations because they fear the repercussions from their bosses. Employees seem more willing to live with the violations than risk losing their jobs entirely.
As Florida was mentioned as one of the top three highest violators, it is important for hotel workers in Florida to understand that they have rights that should not be infringed upon. Withholding wages should not be accepted, and there are occasions where action must be taken against employers to ensure that workers are being treated fairly. Looking into Florida employment laws could pay dividends for anyone who believes he or she may be entitled to compensation for labor violations made by employers.
Source: morningcall.com, "Pennsylvania hotels are among worst labor violators in the country," Leah Samuel, Sam Kennedy and Eugene Tauber, July 13, 2013