Unpaid wages, including overtime, is the most common form of theft in the United States, with employers cheating hardworking people in billions of dollars every year. You deserve to be paid what you are owed under the law for your work.
California has enacted laws to protect workers to recover their rightfully earned unpaid wages. To help protect your legal rights against wage theft by your employer, you need to immediately hire an experienced Irvine employment law attorney.
Know Your California Employee Wage and Hour Rights
To qualify for wage protection laws in California, you must be classified as a “non-exempt employee.” California laws provide non-exempt employees, as compared to independent contractors, far more rights.
In order to qualify as a “non-exempt employee” in California if you:
- Work primarily under your employer’s control and direction
- You perform work that is within your employer’s usual course of business
- You don’t otherwise operate an independent trade or business based on the type of work you do for your employer.
What you are entitled to under California law:
- A 30-minute unpaid meal break for every shift over 5 hours, plus an additional 30-minute unpaid meal break for shifts over 10 hours
- Sick pay and family and medical leave as required under state and federal law
- Minimum wage, prevailing wage, overtime and double-time, as required by law
- Reimbursement of expenses, such as gas mileage
- Timely pay – at least once every 15 days on a regular basis, immediately upon termination, and within 72 hours if you quit
- Unemployment benefits
Filing a Wage Claim in California
If you believe your employer has failed to pay you lawfully owed overtime wages, you must first fill out an “Initial Report or Claim” and deliver it to your local Labor Board Office. Filing a claim can be difficult. The questions may seem contradictory and any mistakes you make may be used against you later. This makes it imperative that you hire an experienced Irvine employment law attorney to help you with the process.
California laws allow you to file a claim against an employer for wage and hour violations so that you can become “whole” – that is, to get the monetary damages you are owed for your losses. Most of these cases end in settlement where the employer agrees to pay the true wages owed. However, if your employer will not budge in paying you the damages you deserve, you and your employment law attorney should be ready to prove your case in court.
Unpaid Overtime Wages at Work? Call Us.
If you or someone you care about has not been paid the overtime wages they deserve at work, you need to hire an experienced Irvine employment law attorney to protect your legal rights and get you the full extent of the compensation that you deserve.
For more information or to schedule a complimentary consultation with an experienced attorney, call the Law Offices of Samer Habbas at (888) 848-5084
