Wrongful Termination - Wages & Tips

Employment Lawyers - Wrongful Termination & Wage Claims

Our Philadelphia employment law firm accepts wrongful termination cases throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Find out if you have legal rights for seeking wages or tips owed to you. Contact our employment law firm for a free, no obligation consultation.

Latest PA Wage Law Update: As of August 5, 2022, Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Law was amended to increase protections for tipped workers, such as waitstaff and bartenders, and certain salaried workers. Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Law (amended May 2022).

Were you fired or retaliated against after asking for wages or tips owed?

Employees in the Philadelphia area may have valid wrongful termination or workplace retaliation claims for requesting wages, pay or tips owed. Our Philadelphia employment law firm sees these types of employment law cases where hourly workers at restaurants, food service, retail stores, gas stations, etc., are denied their rightfully earned wages/tips and then fired or retaliated against after asking their employers for the missing pay.

Related Wrongful Termination Case Results

· $200K Wrongful Termination – African American client wrongfully terminated after filing a complaint with HR

· Confidential Settlement for NJ Employee Who Complained About Illegal Conduct – Client terminated after complaining about illegal and fraudulent conduct at work

Missing Wages in Philadelphia Employment Lawsuits

Workers may be fired for asking for illegally withheld hourly wages, overtime wages or tips. In other situations, workers may be retaliated against, i.e., hours reduced, job duties reassigned, etc. Our lawyers are seeing an uptick in these types of cases since the Covid pandemic.

Hourly Pay

Under federal and state wage laws, any time spent performing duties for the employer or participating in employer-mandated pre-work security or health checks must be compensated.

A day care in Philadelphia mandates pre-shift health screenings for all employees. This includes a rapid Covid test. Employees are required to report to work 30 minutes before their shifts to take the tests. Despite telling the employees that they would be paid for the additional time, the employer fails to compensate the employees. A worker is fired after requesting the missing pay on behalf of all workers.

Overtime Pay

Hourly workers in Pennsylvania are entitled to at least minimum wage and overtime pay at time and a half for all hours worked over 40 hours per week. Overtime rules may apply to some salaried workers, on a case by case basis.

A retail worker who earns an hourly wage is asked to take several shifts at another location, which earns the worker multiple overtime hours. The overtime pay is missing from the worker’s subsequent paychecks. When the worker asks his manager for the overtime pay, he is told that he should be grateful the retail store is even open. Several days later, he is fired and never receives the missing overtime wages.

Tips & Tip Pools

Employers cannot keep tips under any circumstances, and managers or supervisors may not keep tips and may not participate in tip pools. However, a manager may be able to earn tips if they perform actual duties, like covering a shift for an absent server or busser, but only as to that shift.

Example – Manager Takes a Cut of Tip Pool

A restaurant employee in Philadelphia has her hours significantly reduced after she files a complaint about a manager who takes a cut of the tip pool for wait staff, bussers and kitchen staff.

Example – Employer Keeps Tips for Hourly Workers

Workers at a deli outside Philadelphia are paid hourly, at minimum wage. However, the employer keeps all tips, telling the workers that since they earn minimum wage, the employer isn’t required to include the tips in the wages. One of the workers challenges the employer, asks for the missing tips and is then fired.

Wrongful Termination News: Retailer pays $50,000 in punitive damages plus wages owed after firing worker who requested missing overtime wages. Feb. 2022, DOL News Release

About Koller Law Employment Lawyers

For decades, we’ve been handling employment law cases, including wrongful termination and retaliation, for workers across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Koller Law is not run like every other firm – we provide the compassionate, individual attention employees need and deserve.

Call us at (215) 545-8917 or contact us to schedule a confidential case review today!

Page updated: November 29, 2023

Top Rated Employment Lawyer

For over 10 years, firm founder David Koller has been recognized as a “Top Rated Employment Litigation Attorney in Philadelphia” by Super Lawyers.

Koller Law - In the News

Koller Law’s employment cases and founder David Koller have been featured in national and local media. Learn more.

(March 14, 2021)
A Pa. mom says her boss forced her out of her job during the pandemic. She sued.

It’s close to impossible for many parents to work and also care for young children, said Philadelphia employment lawyer David Koller, who represents Delaney.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, effective March 2020, required employers to provide paid sick leave and paid leave to care for children whose schools had closed due to the pandemic. Employees who suffered demotions, lost pay, terminations or other negative consequences at work may be able to make a claim under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

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