Your Right to Wages

You Have Rights!
There are laws that protect your right to wages that you have earned. Two of these laws are the South Carolina Payment of Wages Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. This brochure explains your rights under these laws.

Your Rights Under the Payment of Wages Act

Which Employers Does this Law Cover? This law applies to all employers except employers of domestic labor in private homes and employers with fewer than five employees at all times during the preceding
12 months.

What are “Wages” Under the Law? “Wages” include all forms of compensation, such as pay for a fixed amount of time, for completion of a task, piece work, or commission. Vacation, holiday, or sick leave are considered wages if the employer has a policy of paying separated employees for these types of leave at the time of separation.

Under the Payment of Wages Act, Employers Must:

Your Rights Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
The FLSA places certain requirements on how employers pay their employees. Not all employers or employees are covered by FLSA. Consult an attorney or the Department of Labor to find out if you are covered.

Minimum Wage: Covered employers are required to pay employees a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.

Overtime Pay: An employer who requires or permits an employee to work over 40 hours in a workweek generally must pay the employee at least one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay. The FLSA does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays, or regular days of rest, unless overtime hours are worked on such days. Some types of employees are not entitled to overtime.

It is illegal for an employer to retaliate against an employee for filing a wage complaint under the FLSA.

My Employer is Withholding My Pay—What Can I Do?

File an Administrative Complaint
The S.C. Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation, available at (803) 896-4470, enforces the Payment of Wages Act. The U.S. Department of Labor, available at 1-866-4-USWAGE, enforces the FLSA.

File a Law Suit
The Payment of Wages Act allows you to recover up to three times the unpaid wages, plus costs and attorney’s fees. You must bring this law suit within three years of when you were deprived of wages.

You must bring a FLSA lawsuit within two years of when you were deprived of wages, or within three years if the employer’s violation was intentional.

Additional information may be found at:
LawHelp.org/SC
South Carolina’s guide to free legal resources

This brochure was prepared by South Carolina Legal Services and is provided as a public service.
Copyright retained by South Carolina Legal Services
Printed April 2010