UNPAID WAGES
You Are Entitled to All Wages You’ve Earned.
California has some of the most protective wage and hour laws in the nation. Under California law, employers must pay employees for all work performed. Despite these protections, wage theft is a major problem for California workers. Employers, driven by greed, constantly try to find ways to skirt California’s labor laws and nickel and dime their employees, all in the name of increasing their profits.
Wage theft can take on many different forms, some of which are not always obvious. However, all forms of wage theft result in employees being deprived of their hard-earned money. Some examples of the most common forms of wage theft are:
Paying less than the minimum wage;
Failing to pay overtime and double-time compensation;
Pressuring or forcing employees to work off-the-clock;
Failing to pay employees wages for missed, late, short and/or interrupted meal breaks and rest breaks;
Misclassifying employees as salaried-exempt or as independent contractors;
Failing to pay promised bonuses, commissions, and incentives;
Failing to pay employees for reporting time;
Failing to factor bonuses, commissions, and other incentive pay in to overtime compensation and meal and rest period premiums;
Failing to pay piece-rate employees for non-productive time;
Failing to pay split-shift premiums;
Failing to reimburse employees for business-related expenses;
Taking unauthorized deductions from pay; and
Failing to pay out earned vacation pay upon termination.
Not only does California law require employers to pay employees for all time worked, it also requires them to do so in a timely fashion. Generally speaking, employers are required to pay employees twice a month on days that have been designated as regular paydays, although there are some exceptions. In addition, if your employment ends you are entitled to be promptly paid for all outstanding wages owed to you – including earned vacation pay. The specific timing requirements for payment of final wages depends on whether the termination of your employment was voluntary or involuntary and the industry you are employed in. In most situations, if you are fired by your employer, all of your wages are immediately due, and if you voluntarily resign, your final wages must be paid by mail within 72 hours, unless you previously provided at least 72 hours of prior notice, in which case your wages are due at the time of quitting.
California has multiple recording keeping laws in place to ensure that employers accurately pay all wages owed to employees. For example, employers are required to record the times employees begin and end work each day – this includes recording meal breaks and split shifts. Employers are also required to provide their employees with accurate itemized wage statements containing specific information about the amount of time worked, the amount of wages actually paid, and how the wages were calculated. These records are important tools for helping employees determine if they were properly compensated for all time worked.
If your employer has engaged in one of the wage theft practices listed above, you may have a claim for relief. Even if you were underpaid by only a few dollars, it is likely that your employer – counting on the fact that employees are either unaware that they are being shortchanged or will not speak up – is also committing the same kinds of violations against other employees. If that is the case, it may be appropriate to bring a class action or representative action lawsuit in order to hold your employer accountable for widespread wage abuse.
The attorneys at Parker & Minne specialize in holding employers accountable for unlawful wage theft practices. If you believe you were underpaid by your employer, contact us today.