Wage disputes are sadly quite common. One report from the Economic Policy Institute found that employers around the United States steal billions from their employees’ paychecks each year.
When employees end up in the middle of a wage dispute, they have many options that they can pursue. While they can certainly retain the services of an employment law attorney, it may work out to bring up the issue with the boss first. Payroll errors happen all the time, and if you lost overtime pay or another form of compensation, then you should first bring it to the attention of your employer.
Bring paperwork to your boss
If there is a payroll issue you want to address, then you should first acquire all the paperwork that will help your case. This includes your previous pay stubs and time sheets. These documents will strengthen your case and show your employer definitively what happened. For salaried employees, they should bring a written copy of the initial contract to the boss to show how much they should receive based on how much and what kind of work was performed.
Discuss the matter in a calm fashion
You need to make it clear that you want to resolve this issue in a civil fashion. With the proper paperwork, the conversation should go more smoothly. However, you want to make sure you only provide your employer with photocopies of the original documents. At this time, you do not want to be overly aggressive because you want the boss and the HR department to side with you.
Schedule a private meeting
At the beginning, you do not want to make a huge commotion over the situation. Speak with your employer privately at a time that is mutually beneficial for everyone. In the event that the meeting does not go your way, you should consider speaking with other employees to see if they have also been victims of wage disputes.