What Are Wage & Hour Violations in California?

California’s wage and hour laws set strict rules for how employers pay and schedule their workers, and violations are more common than most employees realize.

A Los Angeles wage-and-hour violation lawyer handles cases involving unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest breaks, and misclassification of employees as independent contractors to avoid paying benefits. The California Labor Code sets specific standards that override any company policy conflicting with them.

An employer’s internal handbook does not excuse noncompliance. When employers try to save money on payroll, the law gives workers a clear way to recover what they are owed, often with penalties added.

Types of Wage & Hour Violations We Handle

A Los Angeles wage-and-hour violation attorney handles a wide range of claims. Unpaid overtime tops the list, especially when employers misclassify hourly workers as salaried to avoid paying time-and-a-half.

Off-the-clock work, including tasks performed before clocking in or after clocking out, is another frequent violation. Missed meal and rest breaks, failure to pay minimum wage, and unpaid final paychecks after termination round out the most common cases.

A Los Angeles wage-violation lawyer also reviews commission disputes and improper paycheck deductions, as both frequently violate California’s strict wage-protection statutes.

Employees rely on their employers for their livelihoods. To prevent exploitation of laboring employees and ensure fair compensation, California and federal law prescribe specific and rigorous time and recordkeeping, minimum wage, overtime pay, and other requirements for employers. These laws are designed to induce employers to maintain documentation of the employment relationship and strictly honor their obligations to pay employees completely and in a timely fashion, with significant penalties payable to the employee in the event of employer noncompliance.

 An employer is required to provide the following to its employees under California Law: 

  • Minimum Wage. The minimum wage in California is $16 an hour for companies with 26+ employees. If you are of working age and are not being paid at least minimum wage, you may be entitled to seek back pay and other compensatory damages through legal action.
  • Overtime Pay. According to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the California Labor Code, all nonexempt employees working more than 40 hours in a single work week are entitled to wages “not less than time and one-half their regular rates of pay.” In California, for hours worked over twelve in one day, or over eight hours on the seventh consecutive day in a row, an employee is entitled to wages equal to double their regular rate of pay. When companies get creative with hours or fail to pay overtime for hours worked over 40 per week, the employee has been cheated out of fair pay. If this has happened to you, it might be a good idea to contact an overtime pay lawyer in Los Angeles. Our overtime attorney in Los Angeles will help you recover any compensation that is due to you as a result of a non-compliant employer.
  • Timely Regular Biweekly Pay. An employer is required to timely pay an employee wages due on a bi-weekly basis, subject to penalties for failure to comply.
  • Meal and Rest Breaks. An employer must provide at least a 30-minute lunch break in the first five hours of work per day, as well as a paid 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked. If your employer failed to provide you the proper amount and or duration of meal, lunch, or rest breaks, it might be a good idea to contact either our meal breaks lawyer in Los Angeles, or our rest break lawyer in Los Angeles, or our lunch break lawyer in Los Angeles.
  • Accurate Classification as an Employee or Contractor. To avoid paying overtime or offering benefits, some companies will act as if their employees are “independent contractors”, not protected under California labor laws. In April of 2018, a unanimous decision from the California Supreme Court made it much more difficult to classify employees as independent contractors, but the practice of misclassifying employees as independent contractors is still far from uncommon If you have been robbed of benefits and wages through misclassification as an independent contractor, you may be entitled to significant compensation through legal action.
  • Reimbursement of Job-Related Expenses. If a non-exempt employee pays out-of-pocket to perform his or her job (for example, travel costs), those expenditures must be reimbursed by the employer. Failure to reimburse an employee for those costs subjects an employer to penalties payable to the employee.
  • Itemized and Accurate Bi-weekly Pay Stubs. Many employers pay their employees under-the-table in cash, or otherwise fail to provide regular bi-weekly pay stubs reflecting total pay, deductions and hours worked. California law penalizes employers who fail to provide itemized and accurate bi-weekly pay stubs, and authorizes a lawsuit on behalf of the affected employee.
  • Prompt Payment of Unpaid Wages After Quitting or Termination. When an employee exits an employment relationship, an employer has an obligation to promptly pay all wages due to the employee upon terminating the employment relationship. Waiting too long can subject the employer to accrual of penalties recoverable by the employee under the California Labor Code 

If you are an employee and believe your employer has failed to pay wages due, provide accurate itemized wage statements,  reimburse you for job-related expenses, provide meal or rest breaks, classify you correctly as an employee, or promptly provide unpaid wages after quitting or termination, you may have a right to recover damages and penalties under California or federal law. 

Our experienced Los Angeles California wage and hour lawyers have an understanding of the applicable laws and regulations governing your employment relationship. We will discuss your case and help you determine if you have a viable wage and hour claim under California or federal law.

Why Choose Our Los Angeles Wage & Hour Violation Attorneys?

  • Decades of employment law experience: Our team has represented workers throughout Los Angeles since the 1930s in wage disputes against employers of every size.
  • Full recovery calculation: A Los Angeles wage and hour violations lawyer on our team calculates unpaid wages, penalties, and interest that the law allows you to recover.
  • Class and individual claims: We handle both single-employee disputes and larger claims involving multiple workers who have faced the same violation.
  • No fees unless we win: Every case is handled on a contingency basis, so you pay nothing unless we recover compensation.
  • Direct attorney access: A Los Angeles wage and hour violations attorney stays in contact throughout the case, not a rotating cast of assistants.