Employment Discrimination in Florida

Employment Discrimination Attorney, Miami Florida

There are a number of Laws that determine what is acceptable treatment in the workplace in the State of Florida. These include Title VII of the US Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Florida Civil Rights Act. The combined effect of these laws is that it is illegal to discriminate against a person on the basis of race, sex, age, religion, color, national origin, or disability, in any aspect of employment. The scope of these laws includes all aspects of hiring and firing, payment of wages, benefits, retirement plans, disability leave, classification of employees, job duty transfer, promotion, layoff, training, recruitment, testing and many other terms and conditions of employment.

Discriminatory practices defined by these laws also include any harassment and any retaliation against an individual for opposing discriminatory practices, filing a charge of discrimination or participating in an investigation. There are many other protections afforded by these laws. If you have experienced workplace discrimination or retaliation, the Miami employment attorneys at the Law Office of Pelayo Duran are dedicated to helping you defend your rights.

If your situation is complex, you can be assured that our trial lawyers have the skill, experience and litigation support to competently handle your case. Our reputation for aggressively defending the rights of our clients is widespread. (Link here to press releases on current and past trial)

What are my rights to minimum wages and overtime compensation?

The federal minimum wage is set by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, which also provides non-exempt employees with the right to overtime compensation.

On November 2, 2004, Florida voters approved a constitutional amendment which created Florida's minimum wage. The Florida minimum wage applies to all employees in the state who are not covered by the federal minimum wage. Federal law requires that employers pay the higher of the federal or state minimum wage. The federal minimum wage will prevail over the state rate until such time as the Florida minimum wage becomes higher than the federal rate.

The majority of employees are either paid an hourly rate for each hour that they work or are paid a fixed salary regardless of the number of hours worked. The majority of those employees paid on an hourly basis must be paid overtime for any hours worked over forty (40) in a seven day work week. Some salaried employees may also be entitled to overtime because their employers have misclassified them as being exempt. An employee paid a salary may be entitled to overtime compensation.

If you are concerned that you are not being paid according to the requirements of the law you can arrange a free legal consultation and speak to an experienced employment attorney at the Miami Law Office of Pelayo Duran.