The state of California protects workers through a series of laws enshrined in the California Labor Code. These laws require every worker to be paid fairly, regardless of their immigration status, and offers remedies when those wages are not paid. A labor law attorney in Burbank, California can help you if you’re dealing with an employer who will not pay your wages.
California Laws and Unpaid Wages
Your Rights
There are two types of wages that can be paid in California. The first are contract wages, meaning wages that the employer and employee agree upon, usually in a formal written contract, but an oral agreement can also be enforced under the right circumstances. The second type of wages addressed by state law are labor law wages. These are wages paid in situations where no contract exists, but payment must still follow all California laws. Independent contractors are not employees and get their payments for work that is performed under a contract. Contracts of this sort are not considered wages under California law, but it is possible for an employee to be wrongly classified as an independent contractor. If that has happened, a lawyer can help you to show it and demonstrate that you are entitled to be paid the wages required under the law.
The law requires that most employees be paid at least twice a month, and even when there is an exception to this, payday must still be regular and employees must know clearly when they will be paid. For the majority who ought to be paid twice a month, all wages that are earned between the first and 15th day of a month have to be paid between the 16th and 26th day of that same month. Wages earned after the 15th and before the end of the month must be paid between the first and 10th day of the next month. Overtime wages have to be paid no later than the regular payday of the next work period. The primary exceptions here are for those who work as supervisors or in administration. These employees can be paid once a month or on a different schedule as agreed to between an employer and an employee.
When an employee stops working, the law also sets out rules for when the employee is to be paid their final paycheck. If the employee is fired or if the employee quits and has given at least 72 hours’ notice, then the final paycheck is due on the last day of work. If an employee quits without notice, the employer has 72 hours to get that final paycheck out. All final paychecks must also include payment for any accrued vacation time or paid time off of any other sort.
Bringing a Claim in a Dispute
If you and your employer are in a dispute over unpaid wages, you have a time limit for bringing a wage claim under the California statute of limitations. It’s very important to make sure you don’t miss these deadlines because, if you do, you may not be able to bring a claim at all for your unpaid wages. Always talk to a lawyer as soon as possible to make sure that your rights are protected, because things can be complicated here.
The amount of time you have depends on the precise nature of your dispute. If the paycheck your employer issued to you has bounced, or if your employer has refused to give you access to your payroll or personnel records, you have one year to file a claim. If you’re going on an oral promise from your employer to pay you more than minimum wage, and that has not happened, you have just two years to bring a claim. Most violations of overtime rules, minimum wage, unpaid meal breaks, sick leave, or if there are illegal deductions being taken from your paycheck all need to be addressed within three years. And if you’re bringing a claim for unpaid wages based on a written contract, you have four years.
What to Do
(1) Contact a California Labor Law Attorney
If you are in a dispute with your employer, a good first step to take is to talk to a lawyer. A lawyer will bring knowledge of the labor code to your side and help you evaluate your situation so you understand exactly what claim you’re bringing and the best way to successfully pursue it. Your lawyer can also negotiate for you and will make sure that you follow all the legal and bureaucratic steps exactly right, so there is no danger to your claim.
(2) Gather Information
To pursue a claim under the law, you will need to provide specific evidence of the situation and everything that you are asking for in your claim. Some of what you need will include information on:
(3) Your Employer
You’ll need all the basic information about who employs you. This includes name and address, and if you have several employers or supervisors, you might need to provide more than one name. If you’re not sure what the actual address of your employer is, write down the name of your employer and their vehicle license plate number. You’ll also want to get the information of anyone else who might be intimately involved in your claim, such as a supervisor or manager.
i. Your Hours
If you haven’t been already, start keeping careful track of all your hours. Write down when you start work and when you end it, every time you take a meal break or a rest break, and then calculate at the end of the day the total hours that you worked. Even if you are paid by contract, you still have to be paid at least minimum wage for every hour that you’ve worked, so keep track of the amount of time you spend on each contract so you can make sure that the total you’ve received is in line with the hours that you’ve worked. If you find that completing a contract requires so many hours of work that you’re making less than minimum wage per hour, you need to talk to your lawyer about how to express this in your claim.
ii. Your Pay
You also need to provide information on everything you’ve been paid. Your employer is required to give you a pay stub or wage statement every time you are paid, and a wage statement must be itemized with your name, the dates you’re being paid for, the amount you’ve earned, any deductions that have been made for taxes or anything else, how much paid sick leave has been accrued, and all the detailed information about your employer.
Although your employer is supposed to be keeping track of both your time worked and your wages, don’t rely on them to do this. Make sure that you keep track, as well, so you have everything you need to make a claim. You might be surprised how many times an employer “loses” important information related to an employee’s working time or wages in these disputes.
Contact Our California Employment Law Attorneys Today
Contact the experience team of attorneys of Haig B. Kazandjian Lawyers APC today. We proudly serve clients across California. Visit us at our Glendale office at:
Haig B. Kazandjian Lawyers APC
801 N. Brand Blvd., Suite 1015,
Glendale, CA 91203
Phone: (818) 696 2306
