Generally speaking, jobs that require high levels of education and skill pay higher wages than jobs that require few skills and little education. Statistics from the Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) validate this viewpoint by revealing that the unemployment rate among people who have a professional degree is significantly lower than that of people who have a high school diploma or less than a complete high school education. In addition, earnings increase significantly as a worker's degree of education rises.

A sales commission is a sum of money paid to an employee upon completion of a task, usually selling a certain amount of goods or services. Employers sometimes use sales commissions as incentives to increase worker productivity. A commission may be paid in addition to a salary or instead of a salary. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does not require the payment of commissions.

A common remedy for wage violations is an order that the employer make up the difference between what the employee was paid and the amount he or she should have been paid. The amount of this sum is often referred to as "back pay." Among other Department of Labor programs, back wages may be ordered in cases under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) on the various federal contract labor statutes.

Listed below are methods which the FLSA provides for recovering unpaid minimum and/or overtime wages.

By Jonathan Grossman

When he felt the time was ripe, President Roosevelt asked Secretary of Labor Perkins, 'What happened to that nice unconstitutional bill you had tucked away?'