Rachel Monroe

New York’s spread of hours rule gives many workers an extra hour of pay when their workday spans more than 10 hours. Here is when it applies, how much it is, and how to recover it.

How New York’s meal period law works: who gets a lunch break, how long it lasts, when the time must be paid, and the separate rules for rest and nursing employees.

New York is an at-will state, so most firings are legal. Wrongful termination covers the narrow set of firings that break a specific law, and this article explains what counts, the deadlines to act, and where a fired worker can file.

A plain-language guide to the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act: what counts as wages, the limits on paycheck deductions, when final pay is due, and how an employee recovers unpaid wages through the Commissioner of Labor or a lawsuit.

Ohio follows the at-will employment rule, so a job can end at any time for almost any reason. This article explains the exceptions that make some firings illegal.

How overtime pay works in Ohio: the one-and-one-half-times rule for hours over 40 in a workweek, which employers and employees are covered, who is exempt, how the rate is calculated, and how to recover unpaid overtime.

Georgia does not require employers to provide meal or rest breaks to adult workers. A plain-language look at what federal law says about paid short breaks and unpaid meal periods, the one break Georgia does require for nursing mothers, and the rules for teen workers.

Illinois is an at-will employment state, so most private-sector workers can be fired at any time for almost any reason. This explains what at-will means, the reasons an employer cannot fire you for, when a contract overrides the default, and how at-will interacts with your other workplace rights.

How New York’s overtime rules work: who is entitled to time-and-a-half, how the state’s exempt salary threshold differs from the federal one, and how overtime pay is calculated.