In Missouri, many families have at least one person who works extremely long hours and perhaps does not get paid as much as they should. For others, every member of the household has to work and even then it can be hard to put food on the table and cover all your expenses. To make things worse, some employers exploit their workers’ need for money by giving them even longer hours to fill, with no overtime pay for their hard work.

Being overworked is not only an awful experience, but it can be highly detrimental not only to your health, but also to your emotional state and your overall ability to do your job. With this in mind, younger workers are subjected to much stricter hours laws which try to avoid them spending too much time at work when they need to be focusing on school.

As this article on hour laws explains, workers aged 15 or 14 years can only work outside of school hours. Even then, the restrictions are quite rigid. On a school day, they can work no more than three hours, though this increases to eight otherwise. During term-time, they can work up to a total of 18 hours per week. However, when school is out, this increases to 40.

If you are being overworked or underpaid, you deserve a resolution to your situation. Everyone has a right to fair pay for the work they do and adequate rest. If your rights are being breached in any way, you might benefit from the support of an attorney. He or she can advise you about what to expect from your employer and may be able to assist you with making a claim.