Compensation Disputes

Compensation Disputes: Florida Businesses, Parntership, & LLC’s: When Partners Leave

Nobody wants to work for free. By law, everyone must be paid a wage for their work. Employees, from the executive level down, are all compensated. But not everybody always agrees with their employer on the correct amount of their compensation.

In a dispute over compensation or executive severance, an attorney can provide advice and assistance. Sometimes, if no agreement is possible, it will be necessary to file a lawsuit to recover what is owed.

Disputes over compensation can arise whether or not a written contract exists, and whether or not an employment relationship has come to an end. “Compensation” includes bonuses, commissions, salary, and wages. For example, an employer and an employee may disagree on whether a commission is owed for certain sales or receipts. Alternatively, they may disagree on how to calculate a bonus based on an agreed formula. Some employers cheat their employees out of overtime wages, resulting in a legal claim.

Sometimes a dispute over compensation will also relate to promised employment benefits such as the funding of retirement plans, executive pension plans, health savings accounts, health insurance, life insurance, and disability insurance. Employer-sponsored retirement and pension plans, for example, are carefully regulated by law. They may also have unique tax consequences.

In Florida, if a worker is required to bring a lawsuit to recover wages, including bonuses or commissions, the prevailing claimant is entitled to recover attorneys’ fees and costs. Other laws provide for fee-shifting in employment cases. This means that if an employee is owed wages, commissions, bonuses, or benefits, it may not be necessary for the complaining party to pay attorney fees out of his or her own pocket. Instead, an attorney who wins the case may look to the defendant for payment of his fees after a recovery is made.