Childcare workers work hard and deserve to be paid properly. Unfortunately, some childcare workers may find that they have not been paid what they expected to be paid.
There are often simple administrative reasons for this, but some employers deliberately underpay childcare workers in the expectation that they do not understand how their paycheck is calculated or are too intimidated to do anything about it.
It is important for any childcare worker who suspects that they have been underpaid to find out whether this is deliberate wage theft or not.
There are state and federal laws that prohibit wage theft, but it can be a difficult task to get your employer to pay what you are entitled to.
If you can provide evidence that your employer is not paying you what the agreed amount was when you were first hired, then you may be able to take legal action against your employer with the help of an employment lawyer.
What to Look For on Your Paycheck
If you suspect that you aren’t being paid what you think you ought to have been paid, you should take a careful look at your paycheck first before talking to whoever makes up the paychecks for your employer.
You may have had deductions you didn’t know about, deductions that shouldn’t have been included or there may have been a simple accounting error which led to you not receiving the pay you expected.
Your paycheck should clearly list all items on it such as hours worked, tax deducted, overtime worked, deductions for various things etc.
The first thing to check is that your net paycheck amount is what you actually got paid. This eliminates one possible accounting error.
The next step is to go through all the items listed on the paycheck with a fine tooth comb.
- Is the number of hours worked correct?
- Was the hourly wage paid correct?
- Did you do any overtime and was this paid at the overtime rate?
- Was the amount of tax and insurance contributions correctly calculated?
- Were any deductions listed correctly? Deductions for a childcare worker may include things like uniform supplied, cleaning bills, equipment used, accommodation, meals, transport provided, anything that you may have lost or broken while at work that belonged to our employer.
Childcare workers should not be paid less than the federal or state minimum, depending on which is the higher.
For example, if you work in California as a childcare worker, the state hourly minimum wage is higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour, so you should be paid the state minimum at least.
If the deductions (not including tax and insurance) are such that your pay drops below the state minimum, then this might be regarded as a form of wage theft.
What to Do if You Are a Victim of Wage Theft
Your reaction to potential wage theft will probably depend on whether it is a regular occurrence, or just an occasional discrepancy.
If you have suffered from wage theft, then it is quite likely that you won’t be the only employee working for your employer who has experienced this.
It would be smart to quietly find out whether your lower than expected paycheck was unusual or something that other childcare workers frequently mentioned.
Whatever you find out from other employees, you will still need to go to your accounts department or HR with your paycheck and discuss why you thought you weren’t being paid what was agreed.
Make sure you take a note of their response. You may find that the discrepancy is easily explainable and that you are told that any loss in wages will be made up in the next paycheck.
If you are not satisfied with the accounts department’s explanation, and are still sure you have been underpaid, you should file a wage theft claim with the Wage and Hours Division at the nearest Department of Labor.
The Labor Commissioner may be able to get the underpayment sorted out or things could become more challenging.
Your employer may face a fine or even imprisonment if there has been a serious and deliberate breach of state or federal employment law.
You should talk to an employment lawyer about your claim as this situation would be something they would have handled many times before. The lawyer will outline your legal options, including filing a lawsuit against your employer for wage theft.
