Glendale Employee Misclassification Lawyer

Under California Law, Every Worker Is Presumed an Employee Until Proven Otherwise

Under Assembly Bill 5, codified in California Labor Code Section 2775, a business must satisfy a three-part test before treating any worker as an independent contractor. Fail any single part, and that worker is a California employee entitled to:

• Minimum wage and overtime pay
• Mandatory meal and rest breaks
• Workers’ compensation coverage
• Unemployment insurance
• Paid sick leave
• Employer contributions to state and federal payroll taxes.
• Federal labor law protections, including the right to organize under the National Labor Relations Act

Claims for misclassification can be brought under the Labor Code, IWC Wage Orders, and the Private Attorneys General Act, which allows a single worker to file on behalf of all similarly misclassified employees at the same company.

If your employer has misclassified you to sidestep those obligations, a Glendale employee misclassification lawyer at HBK Lawyers can evaluate your situation at no charge.

The Most Common Forms of Employee Misclassification in California

Misclassification is engineered into a work arrangement from the start. Workers often lose wages and benefits for years before identifying the problem.

Issued a 1099 While Functioning as an Employee

If your company controls your schedule, directs how you perform tasks, and restricts you from working for other clients, that level of control typically fails the ABC Test regardless of what the contract says.

Classified as “Exempt” to Eliminate Overtime

Exempt status carries strict legal requirements: a qualifying salary threshold and a specific job duties test. Assigning the title of “supervisor” or “lead” without satisfying those conditions doesn’t create a valid exemption. Workers misclassified as exempt can recover unpaid overtime for the three years before filing.

Gig Workers Without Employee Protections

AB 5 was passed directly in response to the gig economy’s widespread use of contractor classification. Workers at app-based delivery, rideshare, and platform-service companies who satisfy the ABC Test are California employees with the right to recover back wages, break premiums, and unreimbursed expenses.

One specific carveout applies: Proposition 22 created a separate framework for app-based transportation and delivery companies such as Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash. Workers at those specific platforms are subject to different rules. Workers at other app-based services, including home cleaning, care, and freelance platforms, remain fully governed by the ABC Test.

Short-Term Workers Denied Employee Status

An engagement’s duration doesn’t factor into the ABC Test. When work falls within the company’s core operations, a project or seasonal assignment confers employee status equal to permanent work.

LLC Formation Used as a Workaround

Some employers require workers to register as sole proprietors or form an LLC before engagement, then use that entity to justify contractor treatment. Courts apply the ABC Test to the real working relationship, not the paperwork built around it.

The Label Was Wrong and You Deserve Those Wages

Misclassification claims have strict lookback windows. Call HBK Lawyers today and find out exactly what your employer owes you.

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How California’s ABC Test Determines Whether You Were Misclassified

California Labor Code Section 2775 begins with a presumption that you are an employee. To classify you as a contractor, the hiring entity must prove all three parts of the ABC Test. Failing even one means you are a California employee:

• Part A: free from control. The worker must be free from the hiring entity’s control and direction, both in the contract and in the way the work is actually performed. A contract that says “independent contractor” while daily supervision and direction happen on the ground fails Part A.
• Part B: outside the usual course of business. The work must fall outside the hiring entity’s core operations. Drivers are central to a trucking company. Recruiters are central to a staffing firm. When the work is what the business does, Part B fails.
• Part C: independently established business. The worker must be engaged in an independently established trade or business of the same nature as the work performed. A worker with no separate client base who relies entirely on one company’s resources does not meet this standard.

AB 5 contains narrow exemptions for certain licensed professionals and qualifying business-to-business arrangements, expanded by Assembly Bill 2257 in 2020. Employers must affirmatively prove those conditions are met. When they can’t, the ABC Test controls the full relationship.

How to Build a Strong Misclassification Case Against Your Employer

Prevailing on a misclassification claim requires evidence of how the relationship operated in practice: how the employer directed your work, what protections were withheld, and whether the company’s core operations depended on what you did.

What to Collect Before You File

The most persuasive evidence in a misclassification case reflects how the work actually happened, not what the contract claimed. Focus on four areas:

• Instructions and supervision records: Save all messages, emails, app notifications, and written directions on when, where, and how to perform work, along with scheduling data, attendance requirements, and performance-monitoring documentation.
• Pay history and denied benefits: Collect 1099s, invoices, and pay statements confirming overtime, sick leave, or break premiums that W-2 employees at the same company received and you didn’t.
• Role descriptions and job context: Keep job postings, training materials, and internal communications that describe your role, particularly anything that shows your work was central to the company’s core operations.
• Coworker accounts: Statements from others at the same company who were classified the same way can anchor a PAGA claim or class action and substantially increase the employer’s total exposure.

The Elements the Claim Requires

To establish the claim, you must show:

• You performed services for the hiring entity.
• The entity classified you as an independent contractor.
• That classification fails under at least one part of the ABC Test.

Once those elements are in place, the burden shifts to the employer to prove the classification was lawful. California does not allow employers to satisfy that burden with contract language alone.

What Employers Argue and Where It Breaks Down

Employers typically point to schedule flexibility, multi-client arrangements, or mutual agreement to contractor status. Whether those facts satisfy the ABC Test depends on substance:

• Did the worker genuinely control their own methods, or did the employer direct work daily?
• Does the employer have a real Part B argument, or was the work central to the business?
• Did the worker maintain a genuine independent operation, or did the employer’s structure prevent it?
• Were AB 5 or AB 2257 exemption conditions actually proven, or simply asserted?

Filing a Misclassification Claim in California: Your Available Options

California Labor Commissioner’s Office

The California Labor Commissioner’s Office handles wage claims arising from employment misclassification at no cost. If the agency rules in your favor, the employer must pay unpaid wages, interest, and statutory penalties. California Labor Code Section 226.8 adds civil penalties of $5,000 to $15,000 per violation for willful misclassification, rising to $10,000 to $25,000 for employers cited for repeat conduct.

PAGA and Civil Litigation

Under the Private Attorneys General Act, one misclassified worker can bring a representative action covering all similarly affected employees at the same company. Civil penalties are split 75% to the state and 25% to the workers. Civil suits under Labor Code Section 1194 recover unpaid wages and overtime, with attorney fees available to prevailing plaintiffs. Business and Professions Code Section 17200 extends the lookback window to four years.

Deadlines to Know

Labor Code wage claims carry a three-year statute of limitations. Section 17200 claims allow four years. PAGA notices must be filed within one year of the most recent violation. Missing any of these windows forfeits recovery for that period. Contact a Glendale employee misclassification attorney at HBK Lawyers before those windows close.

What Misclassified California Workers Are Entitled to Recover

Unpaid Wages and Overtime

California requires 1.5 times the regular rate for hours beyond 8 in a workday or 40 in a workweek, and double time for hours beyond 12 in a workday. Workers can recover all unpaid amounts going back three years from the date of filing.

Missed Meal and Rest Break Premiums

Each missed 30-minute meal break or 10-minute rest break entitles the worker to one additional hour of pay. Workers misclassified for months or years may be owed substantial accumulated premiums in addition to back wages.

Business Expense Reimbursement

California Labor Code Section 2802 requires employers to cover reasonable work expenses, including mileage, phone use, and equipment. Workers who paid those costs out of pocket, while classified as contractors, can recover them with interest.

Civil Penalties and Waiting Time Damages

Employees not paid in full at separation are owed waiting-time penalties under Labor Code Section 203: one day of wages for each day the payment is delayed, up to 30 days. PAGA penalties stack on top of direct wage recovery and significantly increase the employer’s total exposure.

Workers’ Compensation Coverage

Employees injured on the job can file workers’ compensation claims. Independent contractors cannot. A misclassified worker who suffered a workplace injury while labeled a contractor may be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits retroactively once employee status is established.

Unemployment Insurance

Employers pay into California’s unemployment insurance system on behalf of employees, not contractors. Misclassified workers who lose their jobs and apply for unemployment benefits are often denied because the employer made no contributions. Establishing the correct classification can restore access to those benefits.

Attorney Fees

Under Labor Code Section 1194, employees who prevail on minimum wage or overtime claims recover attorney fees and costs from the employer. You won’t need to pay legal fees out of pocket to pursue a valid claim.