As a worker, you trade your time and labor for a paycheck. What you earn is largely between yourself and your employer, but Kentucky law has a lot to say about it too.
What is the current minimum wage?
For example, the commonwealth’s minimum wage (with certain exemptions, such as if you earn tips) is $7.25 an hour, the lowest minimum wage currently allowed by federal law. Employers may not deduct from wages for things like breakage or shortage in a cash register or common till. Certain withholdings are permitted, such as to comply with the law, when expressly permitted by you to pay for things like health insurance, or for union dues.
Employers are allowed to pay workers who customarily earn more than $30 in tips per month, such as restaurant waitstaff, as little as $2.13 per hour if the employer can prove that the tips make up the difference with the normal minimum wage. Employers cannot force tipped employees to pool their tips with the rest of the staff, though workers may choose to do so.
Overtime pay in Kentucky
Most employees are also entitled to overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a single workweek. Kentucky law also recognizes overtime pay for a worker who works seven days in a workweek. That worker is entitled to overtime pay for the seventh day of work as long as they are permitted to exceed 40 hours for the week. In either case, overtime pay must be at least 150 percent of the worker’s normal wages (commonly known as time-and-a-half).
Defending your rights as an employee can be challenging on your own. Advice and representation from an experienced employment law attorney can make all the difference.