Legal Definitions - back pay

Back pay refers to wages, salary, or other compensation that an employee should have received but did not. This compensation can be owed for work already completed, or for work that an employee would have performed if they had not been unfairly prevented from doing so by an employer. It is typically awarded when an employer has violated labor laws, breached an employment contract, or engaged in wrongful termination, resulting in an underpayment or a loss of earnings for the employee.

Common situations where back pay may be awarded include:

• Unpaid Overtime Wages: An employer fails to pay an employee the legally required overtime rate for hours worked beyond the standard workweek.

  • Example: "Carlos worked 45 hours per week at a manufacturing plant for six months. However, his employer only paid him for 40 hours at his regular rate, failing to compensate him at the time-and-a-half rate for the five extra hours each week as mandated by federal law. After filing a complaint, Carlos was awarded back pay to cover the unpaid overtime wages for all the additional hours he worked during that period."
  • Explanation: This illustrates back pay as compensation for work *already performed* but *underpaid* due to the employer's failure to comply with overtime wage laws.

• Wrongful Termination: An employee is unlawfully fired, for instance, due to discrimination, retaliation for reporting illegal activities, or exercising a protected right.

  • Example: "Sarah, a pregnant employee, was abruptly terminated from her marketing job shortly after informing her employer of her pregnancy, despite having a strong performance record. She successfully sued for wrongful termination, arguing that her dismissal was discriminatory. The court ordered her former employer to pay her back pay, covering the salary and benefits she lost from the date of her termination until the date of the court's judgment."
  • Explanation: Here, back pay compensates Sarah for the work she *would have performed* and the earnings she *would have received* if she had not been unlawfully prevented from working due to wrongful termination.

• Unlawful Withholding of Tips: An employer or manager illegally takes a portion of employees' earned tips.

  • Example: "A group of servers at a popular restaurant discovered that their manager had been regularly deducting 10% from their pooled tips, claiming it was for 'breakage fees.' This practice is illegal under federal labor laws. The servers collectively filed a claim, and the employer was ordered to pay back pay to each server, representing the full amount of tips that had been unlawfully withheld from them over the past year."
  • Explanation: This demonstrates back pay as compensation for earnings *already received by the employer* but *unlawfully withheld* from the employees, restoring the full amount they were entitled to.