Legal Tip Tuesday: Unpaid Wages Know Your Rights Under Pennsylvania

Hi, my name is attorney Casey Seaman and [music] welcome to another legal tip Tuesday. You may have seen one of my previous videos where I talked about the Fair Labor Standards Act or the Federal Wage and Hour Law. But today I’m going to be talking to you about the Pennsylvania Wage Payment and Collection Law or the WPCL for short. While the Fair Labor Standards Act discusses things like overtime and minimum wages, the Pennsylvania wage payment and collection law addresses wages that were already earned by an employee or wages that were already promised to them by their employer.

Under the WPCL, it requires employers to pay employees for all hours that they have worked or wages or other fringe benefits that were previously promised to them by that employer. In terms of the things that you need to know about the WPCL, one of the most important things to realize is that it contains a liquidated damages provision. This means that an employee is not just entitled to the wages that are owed to them, but they’re also entitled to liquidated damages, which under the WPCL is 25% of the total amount of owed wages or $500, whichever is higher. It also contains an anti-retaliation portion, meaning that your employer cannot fire you if you choose to bring suit under the law. If you have questions about the WPCL and want to reach out to our law firm, feel free to do so. Thank you.