Commissions and Bonus Law in Florida For Employers

Commission and bonus-based jobs can offer complexities when it comes to paying employees in Florida that are not an issue for W2 employees. For business owners, these kinds of compensation can be complicated to track and pay out on correctly. This can lead to disputes between employers and their staff when paychecks go out at the end of each payment period.

If you own a Florida business that pays bonuses or commissions to staff, there will probably come a time when an employee will state that you did not pay them wages they were owed or commission and bonuses that they are due. These kinds of unpaid commissions and bonuses can lead to a lawsuit that you will need legal support to handle. The employment lawyers at Lopez Law Group can help represent you if you have been sued for issues with unpaid commissions and bonuses.

What Are Commissions and Bonuses?

Commissions and bonuses are different kinds of pay and are even taxed differently after they are paid to staff. Many jobs in sales use commissions and bonuses to pay their sales team, although these people will likely collect some form of base pay that is offered as wages each month as well.

Commissions are defined as a part of the total compensation that an employee is paid when a sale is made by that employee. This is a form of variable pay, which means that the commission amount is not static each month. Salespeople are informed when they are hired that they will only make commissions on sales that they close each month.

A bonus is an incentive form of compensation that is paid after certain thresholds are met by the employee. This might be a sales quota or some other form of incentive that the employer has created to help motivate sales of specific items or in specific amounts. These are not usually considered to be part of the usual pay of the employee and are only offered at certain times related to specific goals. Bonuses are more likely to be a source of confusion to employees, but commission is often the reason that lawsuits are leveled against employers.

How do Employees Attempt to Sue for Unpaid Commissions and Bonuses?

Employees that feel they were not paid the correct commissions and bonuses have some legal recourse that is open to them. They are able to secure a lawyer, and they will be able to choose from a few different forms of suit. Breach of contract is the most common form of lawsuit that will be used to attempt to secure unpaid commissions and bonuses. This lawsuit claims that the contract between your business and the employee was violated, leading to incorrect payment.

Civil theft cases are used in cases where the employee believes that they were not compensated due to personal issues with management, discrimination, or other forms of abuse. These cases require a large burden of proof to be met, however. There are many instances where these kinds of cases are dismissed for a lack of evidence each year.

Employees can also access the benefits of federal law like the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) or the Florida Minimum Wage Act to collect money they think they are due. These are unique qualifications that allow some commission-based employees to use these laws to argue their side of the situation. These laws are more specific to regular W2 employees, but they can sometimes apply to commission-based staff as well.

What Can a Skilled Lawyer Do for Your Florida Business?

When you have been faced with commissions or bonus-related lawsuits, you will need to be sure that you secure the right legal support for your case. The team at Lopez Law Group has years of experience working on these kinds of cases and can offer you the support that you need to be sure that an investigation is done into the situation that led to the lawsuit.

Without an experienced lawyer on your side, it can be almost impossible to present the right information to a judge or for settlement. Settlements are not usually agreed upon, however, and these cases commonly must be heard before a judge. This means that the presentation of the facts is key so that the judge can make a fair and favorable decision in your case.

Due to the complexity of these laws, you will not want to try and go it alone in defending your business against this kind of accusation. You might not even owe the employee any further compensation, but it can be hard to present the right information to prove that this is the case without a skilled legal team working on your case. Leaving commission and bonus law to chance is never a good idea for any Florida business, and the team at Lopez Law Group can ensure that you get the support that you need to secure a favorable outcome for these kinds of lawsuits.

Commissions and Bonus Law is Complex in the State of Florida

Paying those who earn commissions and bonuses in the state of Florida can be very complicated in some instances. It can be easy to end up caught up in disputes with staff about how much money is due to them each month related to these forms of payment. In some cases, an employee might actually be owed money, but there are just as many occasions where the bookkeeping error is on the side of the employee and not the business that hired them.

Working with a skilled legal team is key to ensuring that your business can defend itself against these kinds of accusations. Due to the complexity of these kinds of lawsuits, the lawyer that you hire needs to have experience in this area of the law. The team at Lopez Law Group can help you to seek a favorable outcome for lawsuits leveled against your business for unpaid commissions or bonuses. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.