Chicago Wage and Hour Lawyer

Trusted Support for Over 100 Years in Illinois

Wage and hour law covers every rule that determines whether you were paid correctly for the work you did. That includes unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, minimum wage violations, and being misclassified in a way that costs you pay you are owed. If your paycheck did not reflect the hours you actually worked, or your employer treated you as exempt from overtime when you should not have been, you may have a wage and hour claim under Illinois and Chicago law. At Workplace Law Partners, our Chicago wage and hour lawyers help employees recover the pay they are legally owed.

Think your pay does not add up? Contact our wage and hour attorneys in Chicago online or call (312) 818-2407 today for a free case review.

What Falls Under Wage and Hour Law in Chicago

Wage and hour law is the broad category of employment law that governs how, when, and how much employees must be paid. It is not one single claim, it is an umbrella that covers several distinct issues, each with its own rules and deadlines:

• Unpaid wages, including withheld final paychecks, unpaid commissions, and illegal deductions under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act
• Unpaid overtime, when a non-exempt employee works more than 40 hours in a week and is not paid time and a half
• Minimum wage violations under Chicago, Illinois, and federal minimum wage requirements
• Employee misclassification, including being labeled exempt or an independent contractor to avoid paying overtime

Each of these issues can stand on its own, or several can apply to the same worker at the same time. A full wage and hour review looks at your pay from every angle, not just one.

Common Wage and Hour Violations We Handle

Wage and hour violations show up in patterns we see across Chicago industries including hospitality, retail, manufacturing, warehousing, and healthcare. Common examples include employers requiring off the clock work, rounding hours down, misclassifying hourly workers as salaried to avoid overtime, paying a flat day rate regardless of hours worked, and taking improper deductions from a final paycheck. Many of these violations happen because employees are unsure of their rights, or because employers rely on that uncertainty. Understanding which category your situation falls into is the first step toward recovering what you are owed.

Understanding the Laws That Protect Chicago Workers

Wage and hour protections in Chicago come from several overlapping layers of law. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets baseline rules for overtime, minimum wage, and employee classification. The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act governs how and when Illinois employers must pay wages, including final paychecks and permissible deductions. On top of both of these, the Chicago Minimum Wage and Paid Sick Leave Ordinance sets requirements that often exceed state law for businesses operating within city limits. Because these laws overlap, a single wage and hour issue can sometimes be pursued under more than one statute, and knowing which one applies to your situation can materially change what you are able to recover.