These are two separate instances of what I think break labor laws and are stealing from me. How should I address this with my employer? Do I need to get a lawyer involved? I'd like to just know what to do, try it, and then decide if I need to get a new job.
Here are the details:
1) When I accepted my job offer, it was for a salary position. I signed for $47,000 year with an expectation that I would work about 40 hours per week. After my first week, I was told I had to submit hours for each week, and I was paid for hours actually worked, not the salary. In fact, I found out that I was making an hourly rate that equated to less than what my salary would be.
2) I work remotely in IT, working for a company in Illinois. I am on call one week a month, should I be compensated for my time even while not actively working? My employer says that I need to be able to respond to all calls, including working tickets, within 15 minutes of the call. That means I cannot spend my free time as I'd like. My very very shallow understanding of federal labor law seem to imply that someone in my position should be compensated for my on-call time since I can't spend my time how I'd like.