Unpaid Wages

Unpaid wages are a real problem for employees in California. As per the California Department of Industrial Relations, employees in California are entitled to be paid for all the hours they work—including hourly or salary wages, unused vacation owed upon termination, commissions, bonuses, overtime work, and many types of off-the-clock work.
Employees must be paid the correct wages at least twice per calendar month but often employers make mistakes or try to deprive employees of their rightful earnings.

As an employee in California, exerting your legal rights to your boss and examining payroll records may not be straightforward without legal assistance. The unpaid wage lawyers at The Sands Law Group, APLC, can help you claim what’s rightfully yours by gathering the necessary evidence to prove what you should be paid.

Unpaid wages arise in many types of employment situations:

• Failure to pay the total wages owed at the termination of employment.
• Failure to pay overtime to existing employees.
• Failure to pay off-the-clock wages.
• Failure to pay for earned sick time, vacation time or paid time off.
• Failure to pay fully-earned tips, bonuses or commissions.

Wages owed at termination

Employees who have been dismissed must be paid all wages owed immediately at termination. Direct deposit payments usually stop on the date of termination, so another method of payment must be organized between the employer and employee.

Remember that employees are entitled to payment for accrued vacation days not taken while employed, as well as all other wages, bonuses, and commissions owed.

If an employer fails to pay wages owed to a terminated employee within a designated time frame, that employer is breaking the law.

Overtime and off-the-clock wages

According to California’s labor laws, any overtime or off-the-clock wages owed must be paid by employers no later than the pay period following the one in which the overtime was earned.

Overtime or off-the-clock work includes activities before or after a work shift starts or ends, such as running errands or picking up supplies. If this overtime is not paid promptly in full by an employer, that employer may be liable for the lost wages and other damages, such as costs.

If you have been denied earnings in California, you can hold your employer liable by filing a claim under the Labor Commissioner’s Office in the California Department of Industrial Relations or with a wage and hour lawsuit against the employer.

While that may seem intimidating for some employees, it’s much easier with the support of an experienced unpaid wage lawyer.

A lawyer will not only claim what you are entitled to but, for employees still working with the company, also work to protect your employment rights and ensure that you are not retaliated against or constructively dismissed (employers may face the threat of significant punitive damages for such actions in addition to repayment of the lost wages).

If multiple employees have experienced the same unpaid wage treatment from the same employer, a class action lawsuit may make it easier to hold the employer accountable and receive the monetary losses incurred.

Most wage and hour lawsuits are resolved before a trial is necessary. The employer often agrees to pay a settlement amount rather than have the negative publicity that goes with court appearances.

Unpaid wages take many forms—some more obvious than others. Most employees understand that they have the right to be paid for the hours they work but some employers bend the rules or are devious with how they underpay workers.

Here are some typical examples of wage and hour violations that result in lawsuits in California:

• Unpaid overtime. For most employees in California, any work performed beyond the standard 40-hour working week (or over eight hours per day) must be paid at one-and-a-half times the normal rate of pay. Additionally, all hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work must be paid at the overtime rate and any work over 12 hours in one workday must be compensated at no less than twice the normal rate.
• Not providing rest and meal breaks: Employees must have a 30-minute meal break after five hours of work and a 10-minute rest break for every four hours worked—or the employer is likely breaking the law.
• Employee misclassification: If an employer willfully or mistakenly misclassifies employees as independent contractors or exempt from overtime pay or benefits when they should be classified as non-exempt hourly employees (see below), that employer is breaking the law and may face fines and extra taxes as well as having to reimburse the employee.
• Wage theft: Not paying a worker for off-the-clock work or making unauthorized deductions from employees’ paychecks are other offenses that an unpaid wages lawyer can hold employers accountable for.

California’s labor laws refer to “non-exempt” employees. These include all workers except those who are exempt from standard wage and hour laws, such as independent contractors, freelancers, and those in high-earning positions.

If non-exempt employees have not been paid in full for the work performed, they may be eligible for the unpaid wages and compensation and their employers can face fines, statutory penalties, legal fees, and any other damages resulting from the violation.

Non-exempt employees must be paid for all hours worked. This includes not only the time spent performing regular tasks during regular shifts but also the following activities:

• Waiting and on-call time spent on the employer’s premises or, in some circumstances, even off-site.
• Training time, including seminars, meetings, and special events unless they are voluntary events outside the regular working hours and not directly related to the employee’s job.
• Preparation time, such as time to put on special clothing or set up equipment before starting a shift.
• Travel time to work locations other than the daily commute between home and the normal workplace.

Employers in California must not pay employees who earn a commission less than the minimum wage, regardless of the amount of revenue generated by these workers. Some outside salespeople who primarily work away from the office may be exempt from this rule.

Employees who earn commissions are entitled to overtime unless more than half of their income comes from commissions and their income in each pay period is more than 1.5 times the minimum wage.

All employees who are paid by “piece rate” must still earn at least the minimum wage for each pay period, regardless of their output. Piece-rate employees must also be paid no less than the minimum wage for work performed that does not earn piece-rate wages, such as cleaning, waiting for orders, etc.

Generally, anyone filing a wage and hours lawsuit in California for unpaid wages, overtime, or other claims must do so within three years of the issue being discovered.

If you think you may be owed money by your employer, the unpaid wage lawyers at The Sands Law Group, APLC can help. Contact us or call 213-788-4412 today for a free 15-minute phone consultation about your case.