Employer Delaying Payment of Wages and Not Paying for All Hours Worked

[wiz]

(sorry the topic should be "Employer delaying payment and not paying hours in Ohio")

My question involves employment and labor law for the state of: Ohio

We clock in every day. The system we clock into tracks those hours and shows them on the screen. But a few days before payday when the checks are cut, the manager will come to us and say something like "we have too many employee hours this week. I can only pay you for X. I'll move your other Y hours to next pay period." Last pay period they were going to do this to 24 of my hours but luckily the owner came in that day, I talked to him and he agreed to "give" me 10 more of my hours and only "delay" 14 of them.

This is the first time this has happened to me probably because I just started here a few weeks ago. Other people who this has happened to say they never get paid for their "delayed" hours and that's just how it is.

It's a pizza delivery joint and they also play games with tips. For example, I'm supposed to get $1.50 per delivery plus my tips. We turn all our tips in and get them back at the end of the shift. The other day, the manager said, "looks like you just broke even on tips" and he never gave me anything. I don't even know what it means to "break even on tips" or how that is possible because even if I got no tips I'm supposed to get the $1.50.

I don't know what to do about the tips because I can't really prove anything, but the hours on my paycheck stub clearly don't match the hours for the pay period on the system. Are they allowed to move hours like that? What if they never pay for the hours they delay? What would I need for proof? I have my check stub. I can't print anything off the system that tracks our hours but I could take a photo of the screen with my phone of course.

Also, what Ohio agency do I talk to about this? Or do I have to hire an attorney? I only make minimum wage, so that's enough with just 14 hours at stake.

[cbg]

The Ohio DOL. And no, it's not legal.

But I'll tell you what would be legal. It would be legal to say, "You've already got x hours this week and I can't afford to pay you for any more, so go home and don't come back to work for the rest of the week". That would be legal.

I'm not saying don't report the violation. I'm saying consider whether being paid late is better, or worse, than not being allowed to work the hours at all.

There's no right or wrong answer. That's for you to decide.

[wiz]

Thank you for the fast answer. That is a good point. I will decide when I get my next paycheck. If the "delayed" hours are on there, I won't report it. If they are not on there, then I will report it.

In any case, I am already looking for another job.