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Illinois Minimum Wage Violations

Are You Being Paid Below Minimum Wage Guidelines?

Is your employer stealing your wages? Are you being paid below minimum wage guidelines? If so, you are a victim of wage theft, and that is illegal.

If you are not receiving all of your wages, act quickly because you may be entitled to back pay, interest, and penalties.

The lawyers at GWC Injury Lawyers hold employers who violate Illinois minimum wage guidelines accountable and work to help employees recover all of their unpaid wages.

We have obtained more than $2 Billion in settlements and verdicts on behalf of our clients.


We Win Cases

$359,240.32

Settlement
Workers Compensation

Settlement for an injured union waste hauler, more than twice the insurance company’s initial offer.

$561,007

Workers' Compensation

For a truck driver who fractured a long bone in his foot while delivering a load of metal pipes.

$540,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 38-year-old union carpenter suffered a significant back injury while lifting an aluminum joist.

$500,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 55-year-old construction worker required right shoulder replacement surgery after a jobsite fall.

$425,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A union foreman electrician sustained a neck injury with permanent work restrictions after moving a 1000-pound master bundle of pipes.

$242,657.57

Award
Workers' Compensation

A 60-year-old union carpenter injured his knee and back while working on a remodeling job.

$62,500

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

An employee of a staffing agency slipped on oil and tore his rotator cuff. After surgery, the injured worker was…

$77,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A Union Waste management driver suffered a labral tear and also developed issues in the elbow both of which required…

$252,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 58 y.o operating engineer fell of a ladder and was seriosuly injured. His injuries required three years of medical…

$174,243

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

This case involved a machine operator that was tried and settled over a disputed wage loss due to restrictions that…

$175,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A carpenter suffered a left shoulder injury that resulted in two surgeries and permanent restrictions. The lawyers at GWC obtained…

$85,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Our client is a spanish-speaking only teacher aide with a low rate who suffered a knee injury at work. Despite…

$120,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 22 y.o worker that received her income mostly from tips broke her tib/fib in a work place accident. While…

$210,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Our client was a carpenter that suffered a lower back injury that did not require surgery but resulted in permanent…

$135,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 40 year old iron worker fell from a faulty ladder while on a job site. GWC successfully obtained $135,000…

$214,777

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A sheet metal worker suffered a lower back injury that resulted in permanent restrictions after two surgeries.

$225,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A sheet metal worker sustained a left wrist and hand injury while using a hammer drill.

$225,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

The foot of a laborer was run over by a co-worker that was operating a back hoe. The injuries to…

$240,800

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A stationary engineer slipped on a ladder and grabbed onto a pipe to prevent falling. Our client sustained a cervical…

$242,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 39 year old local #1 laborer felt a pop while he was pulling up some carpeting on a job.…

$140,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 41 year old factory worker suffered a back injury while lifting work materials. Both the injury and the accident…

$275,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

An ironworker fell at work and injured his lower back that required a two-level disc replacement. In addition to the…

$278,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 60 year old carpenter fell from a trailer while unloading work materials and injured his non-dominant left arm. While…

$280,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

The team at GWC obtained $280,000 settlement for a 61 year old electrician that sustained a serious shoulder injury while…

$285,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Our client was a laborer that sustained a serious lower back injury that required surgery. The injury resulted in the…

$300,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Injured electrician and IBEW member. Employer disputed injured electrician’s need for a knee replacement and case went to trial. The…

$310,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 39 year old laborer sustained a back injury that required two surgical procedures. The Petitioner found alternative employment out…

$147,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A window installed stepped off a customer’s porch and injured his left knee. His injury developed into arthritis which prevented…

$398,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A 43 year old sheet metal worker sustained multiple injuries after falling at work.

$81,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

An over the road truck driver sustained a serious neck injury when his truck went over a bump on I-57…

$125,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

The Petitioner – a CTA bus driver – accidentally ran over a pedestrian who fell into the bus path. The…

$315,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A construction worker handling heavy pipeline seriously injured his back while lifting a pipe. He required severla surgeries and eventually…

$315,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

Our client was a pipeline construction worker that seriously injured his back while lifting a pipe. He underwent numerous surgeries…

$346,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A carpenter fell while at work and sustained a cervical injury. The settlement that GWC negotiated included a funds set-aside…

$550,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

GWC attorney Joel Block helped to secure more than $550,000 for the injuries sustained by a carpenter after he slipped…

$579,000

Settlement
Workers' Compensation

A sheet metal worker suffered significant injuries and was eventually placed on permanent sedentary work restrictions.

Illinois Minimum Wage Violations and Wage Theft

Our wage violation lawyers offer employees who don’t know where to turn free consultations. As union lawyers, we are committed to ensuring that employees throughout our state receive their deserved salaries.

Our employment law violation lawyers are passionate about ensuring that minimum wage violations do not go unpunished.

We are always available to discuss your potential minimum wage lawsuit.

In Illinois, employers are required to follow the rules in the Wage Payment and Collection Act, which details when, where, and how often wages must be paid to employees.

While the federal minimum wage violation for most employees is set at $7.25 per hour, in Illinois, the minimum wage for most employees is $8.25 per hour.

If an employee works 40 hours in a single work week, they are entitled to be paid for all of the hours they have worked at the state minimum wage level.

Any hours over 40 hours in a single week must be paid at 1.5 multiplied by the hourly rate.

Employers cannot deduct the cost of such tools and equipment from an employee’s minimum wage or they will be found in violation of the states minimum wage guidelines.

Employers cannot charge employees for:

  • Tools
  • Equipment
  • Other equipment that benefits the employer

If your employer attempts to deduct the cost of equipment from your pay, you may need to speak with a wage theft lawyer.

Minimum Wage Violations and Tipped Workers

While restaurant workers, valets, and other tipped employees can be paid less than the state minimum wage, their tips must be enough to make up the difference between their paid wage and the state minimum.

In Illinois, tipped workers must be paid a minimum of $4.95 per hour. If the tips do not get the employee to the state minimum wage of $8.25, the employer must make up the difference.

Many employers violate Illinois minimum wage laws by pooling tips and stealing tips from employees who have earned them. Many industries have tipped employees, including:

  • Bellhops
  • Maids
  • Restaurant workers
  • Bartenders
  • Newspaper delivery persons

If the tips are not enough to pay the employee the state minimum, by law the employer is required to make up the difference.

Employees Exempt from Minimum Wage

There are employees who are exempt from the minimum wage requirements, including:

  • Some farm workers
  • Employees who work with fewer than four co-employees
  • Domestic workers
  • Outside sales individuals
  • Students with work study
  • Camp counselors

Do not simply believe your employer if you are told that you are exempt and do not need to be paid minimum wage. Only an experienced minimum wage violation lawyer can determine whether your job title and your actual duties mean that you are exempt from the state’s minimum wage guidelines.

Recovering Unpaid Wages

When employers violate state wage laws, they are unlikely to be forthcoming with the evidence necessary to prove their wrongdoing. At GWC Injury Lawyers, our employment law attorneys advise workers to keep copies of payments, contracts, pay stubs, direct deposits, and any written notices.

Often, it is not until a minimum wage lawsuit is filed that employers take complaining employees seriously.

Employees who successfully demonstrate in a civil lawsuit that the employer violated the Wage Payment and Collection Act could be able to recover:

  • All unpaid wages
  • Damages of two percent of the unpaid wages
  • Attorneys’ fees

In addition to the amounts that must be paid to employees, employers could also be subject to civil penalties imposed by the Illinois Department of Labor.