Unpaid wages claims in California are legal actions brought by a worker against an employer who owes him wages but has been unable to pay them. They can be filed in several different ways.
- By filing a claim with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement,
- The filing of a wage claim with a federal agency
- A court case involving wage and hour lawsuit.
Am I owed money for unpaid wages by my employer?
Non-exempt employees in California are entitled to a minimum wage and obligatory overtime for labor exceeding a set number of hours under California wage and hour law. If an employer fails to pay its employees for work done, the employee may be owed money for unpaid wages.
Earning the Minimum Wage
Businesses in California are prohibited from paying employees less than the minimum wage. In a wage/hour litigation or a wage and hour class action case, you can retrieve money owing to you if your employer breaches California’s minimum wage rules.
California’s general minimum wage is $15.00 per hour in 2022 (or $14.00 for firms with 25 or fewer employees). Even so, California has many cities and counties that have higher minimum wages than the state. Your employer must pay a higher local minimum wage if you work in a city or county having a higher minimum wage.
California Overtime Law
Employers are obligated by California overtime law to pay non-exempt employees overtime pay for the labor that exceeds the maximum number of hours allowed. If non-exempt employees work the following hours and do not have an alternative workweek plan, they are eligible for overtime pay:
- a single workday that lasts longer than eight hours
- work over forty hours in a single workweek
- work over forty hours in a single workweek
Workers are eligible to one and a half (1 12) times their regular hourly rate of pay as minimum overtime compensation.
Furthermore, work that exceeds twelve hours on a single workday or eight hours on the seventh day of a workweek is paid at double the standard hourly rate of pay. Even if the company does not demand overtime work, companies may owe overtime pay to workers if the extra work was approved by the employer.
Taking Breaks for Meals and Rest
Workers who are not exempt are eligible for lunch and rest breaks. If an employee is working more than five hours a day, California law requires them to take a thirty-minute food break. A second thirty-minute meal slot is available to those who work more than ten hours per day.
Non-exempt employees who work three and a half or more total hours in a day are required by California labor law to take rest breaks. Workers are eligible for a ten-minute break for every four hours worked, or a significant portion thereof.
If an owner refuses to allow employees to take food or rest breaks, the employer will be liable for one hour’s salary for each break rejected.
Work done Outside of Scheduled Hours
- Businesses in California are not allowed to force workers to work “off the clock” without pay.
- The following are examples of off-the-clock work:
- Pre-shift responsibilities
- After-shift work
- Administrative responsibilities
- Work completed during a meal or rest period
Off-the-clock work is reimbursed at the employee’s regular hourly salary. If an employee works off-the-clock for more than the maximum number of hours allowed, he or she is entitled to overtime pay.
Do California Wage and Hour Laws Apply to All Employees?
Wage and hour rules in California classify employees as either exempt or non-exempt. “Persons working in professional, technical, secretarial, mechanical, and similar vocations, whether paid on a time, piece rate, commission, or another basis” are considered non-exempt.
Wage and hour laws, especially over time and lunch break laws, may not apply to exempt employees. Employees who are exempt include:
- White-collar employees
- ICs ( Independent Contractors)
- Employees who are paid on commission.
The White-Collar Workforce
People who work in an operational, managerial, executive, or professional capacity are considered “white-collar employees.” Workers must meet the following criteria to be declared exempt white-collar workers under California labor law:
- Spend more than half of their work time on cognitive, administrative, or innovative tasks.
- Use discretion and independent judgment in fulfilling those jobs obligations regularly
- For full-time employment, earn a monthly compensation that is at least twice the California minimum wage.
Workers who are Independent Contractors
In California, independent contractors may also be exempt from wage and hour requirements. Generally, a California labor law defines an independent contractor as someone who delivers services for another while meeting the following criteria:
- The person providing the service is guaranteed a certain payment for a specific output,
- The person providing the service is guaranteed a certain payment for a specific output,
Even though a person is employed as an independent contractor if the parties act as if they are in an employer-employee relationship, the worker will be regarded as an employee. California wage/hour, lunch break, and labor regulations would protect the worker as an employee.
Is there anything you can do if your employer fails to pay you in California?
You may be able to retrieve unpaid pay by filing a wage claim with the labor commissioner or by initiating a lawsuit against your employer if your employer violates California wage and hour laws.
Employers may be sued for violating California labor laws in a variety of ways, including:
- Overtime compensation is not paid (overtime violations)
- compelling an employee to labor outside of normal business hours
- Meal breaks are not provided when they are required.
- Failure to offer the necessary rest periods
- Employees being misclassified as “exempt employees”
- Employees being misclassified as “independent contractors”
- Failure to pay the minimum wage in California
- Failure to pay the minimum wage set by the city or county
- Wage payments are late.
- Nonpayment of agreed-upon hazard compensation
A company may have broken California labor regulations against several employees in many circumstances. Unpaid wages for overtime or missing lunch breaks or rest periods are common issues in successful wage and hour class action lawsuits.
What is the time limit for filing an unpaid wages lawsuit in California?
The statute of limitations for wage and hour lawsuits in California is usually three years from the date of the most recent infraction.
What can I expect to get for an unpaid wages lawsuit in California?
The amount of money that can be recovered in a lawsuit for unpaid wages is determined by the type of labor code infraction.
You may be able to recover the number of back wages in a lawsuit for unpaid wages linked to overtime or earnings below the minimum wage. You may also be entitled to recover interest on the unpaid pay, as well as reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.
If your employer fails to give you a statutory meal or rest breaks, you may be entitled to one hour’s pay for each missed break. If your employer’s breach of California labor laws was not the result of a mistake made in good faith, you could be entitled to double damages. The unpaid wages plus interest are included in liquidated damages.
Do Employers Have the Right to Fire me for Filing an Unpaid Wages Lawsuit?
Workers in California cannot face retaliation for asserting their rights under the state’s wage and hour rules. An employer cannot retaliate against an employee for reporting wage and hour violations or filing a lawsuit for unpaid wages, including firing them. Wrongful termination occurs when an employee is fired for filing a wage claim that has not been paid.
If an employer retaliates against an employee for filing a wage/hour case, the employee may have a new claim against the company.
Siman Law Firm in Los Angeles, California can assist you if you have valid unpaid wages and any employment-related issues.