Legal Question in Employment Law in Oregon

Re: unpaid wages for worked hours

You state that your employer has required employees to clock out, but continue to work. Such a practice is a violation of state and federal wage laws. You should carefully keep track of your actual hours and ask to be paid for them. Under federal minimum wage and overtime law, the employer is required to compensate for all time the employee works or is permitted to work. State law is the same, except that state law covers all wages, not just minimum wage and overtime. Under state law, an employee is entitled to collect penalties if the wages remain unpaid after termination and the employer will be required to pay attorneys fees if a court action is required to collect wages owed before termination. If the unpaid work time creates an entitlement to overtime or minimum wage pay, both penalties under state law and double the amount of unpaid wages can be assessed against the employer.

No employer may legally retaliate against an employee for demanding or inquiring about unpaid wages. If retaliation occurs, the employee may bring a court action for damages plus attorneys fees.

The above does not constitute legal opinion and is offered for the purposes of discussion only. The law differs in every jurisdiction, and

you should not rely on any opinion except that of an attorney you have retained, who has a professional duty to advise you after being fully

informed of all the pertinent facts and who is familiar with the applicable law.