WageGuard — Wage & Hour Compliance
Computes FLSA-compliant overtime, tipped-credit math, jurisdictional minimum-wage delta, regular-rate-of-pay corrections (including non-discretionary bonuses + commissions), and meal-period premiums (CA). 18 seeded workers across 6 jurisdictions, every line reasoned with the regulation cited.
What it is
A wage-compliance prototype that runs the actual FLSA + state-law math on every worker’s pay period. Picks up the four most common employer mistakes — bonus exclusion from regular rate, missed daily overtime, missed meal premium, tip-credit underwater — and prices the back-pay owed.
What it actually computes
- Effective hourly check vs jurisdictional minimum — adds tips for tipped employees, fails the period if total comp / hours falls below the state minimum (CA $16, NY $16, WA $16.28, IL $15, MA $15, TX $7.25 in this seed).
- Tip credit math — verifies that tipped pay rate + actual tips reaches state minimum. If not, employer must make up the difference (FLSA §203(m)).
- Regular rate of pay (29 CFR §778.108) — non-discretionary bonuses and commissions must be folded into the regular rate before computing OT premium. The seeded “Marina” worker has a $240 commission that wasn’t included — the tool computes the correct regular rate, the correct OT premium, and the back-pay owed.
- Daily overtime (CA §510(a)) — separate threshold from weekly OT. Workers averaging >8h/day owe additional premium even if weekly hours are <40.
- Meal-period premium (Cal Labor Code §226.7) — 1 hour at regular rate per missed meal period. Tool computes both regular-rate-corrected premium and citation.
What it surfaces
For each worker: the inputs, the as-paid summary, the compliance math (regular rate, OT required, OT premium owed), the line-item findings with regulatory citation, and the bottom-line back-pay number. Sorted underpaid-first. Total wages owed across the seed: ~$97 across 18 workers — small enough per-person to slip past payroll review, large enough across the workforce to trigger a DOL audit.
Why this shape
DOL Wage & Hour Division collected $338M in back wages in fiscal 2023. The vast majority were not “we didn’t pay overtime at all” violations — they were “we paid the wrong overtime amount because we excluded the production bonus from the regular rate.” The math is dull but unforgiving. WageGuard runs it on every worker, every pay period.
How it ships
Single HTML file, ~28KB. Zero dependencies. The jurisdictional rate table, regular-rate calculator, daily-OT logic, tip-credit math, and meal-premium computer are 290 lines of vanilla JavaScript.