Losing a job is never ideal, especially if your employer violates any of your workplace rights in California. For most workers, a job provides much needed financial support in the form of wages. Your income, quite literally, keeps food on the table and a roof over your head. When that is taken away, it can be quite stressful.
Fortunately, California’s legal protections for its workers provide them with the opportunity to recover lost wages by filing a lawsuit against employers. While there are many different types of claims depending on which law your employer violated, any claim you bring will likely include lost wages.
Free Consultations For California Workers
Our firm’s founder, Martin Gasparian, has spent years working for clients that have suffered unimaginable losses. Maison Law is proud to stand up for those that have been wronged by their employer. California law offers numerous protections for you in the workplace, and we want to make you understand that you have options.
To get started with a free initial consultation, contact us today.
California Employment Law: An Overview
Like all other states, California has several laws in place that prohibit illegal activity in the workplace. These legal protections cover a wide range of topics, from being discriminated against to when and how you’re paid. The team of dedicated California employment lawyers at Maison Law have extensive experience in handling the many varieties of illegal workplace activities you may come up against. The claims typically include the following violations:
- Wrongful Termination
- Hostile Work Environment
- Discrimination/Retaliation
- Whistleblower Violations
- Wage and Hour Violations
- Violations of Employee Privacy
- Breach of Contract
California Workplace Laws
- California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) – California’s primary workplace law that prohibits discrimination, retaliation, and wrongful termination is the FEHA. Specifically, the FEHA protects certain people in the workplace based on characteristics such as age, gender, race, color, national origin, sex, disability, and others. Usually, your employer will violate this law by targeting you because of your characteristics. At that point, you can file a lawsuit for damages.
- Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA) – This is the main California law that protects “whistleblowers” in the workplace, or those employees that report their employer’s illegal activities to the proper authorities. Much like the FEHA, the WPA prohibits retaliation from your employer because you reported them. Most of the time, you report unsafe or hazardous conditions in the workplace to one of California’s administrative bodies that are charged with enforcing workplace laws like the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), or Cal/OSHA.
- Wage and Hour Laws – California’s workplace laws also cover how your employer must comply with wage and hour regulations. This includes things like minimum wage, overtime pay, and giving you paid lunch and rest breaks. When your employer breaks one of these laws, you can file a lawsuit to recover any lost or unpaid wages you have by filing a lawsuit.
- Privacy Laws – California law also protects your privacy in the workplace. Among general privacy concerns, your employer must disclose how they obtained and what they plan to do with your personal information like your social security number, medical records, and criminal history (if you have one). Further, it doesn’t allow recording you in certain areas of the workplace, usually in places where you have an expectation of privacy (restrooms, closed offices, etc.)
No matter which area of the law your employer violated, our California employment and labor lawyers can help you understand your legal rights and what you’ll have to do next to recover damages in the form of compensation.
What Are Lost Wages in California?
In an employment lawsuit, you are entitled to collect any lost wages, among other damages. Generally speaking, lost wages are defined as wages that you:
- Would have received had you not been terminated, as well as any owed wages, overtime or other compensation.
What this means is that you can recover any form of financial compensation that you would have earned under normal conditions, had your employer not violated your rights.
Your claim for lost wages as damages in an employment case usually requires certain documentation that will show you indeed missed that compensation. This documentation typically includes:
- Pay stubs
- Income tax forms
- Previous W-2s or other paperwork from your employer
- Medical records or doctor’s notes for work missed because of a medical condition.
In order to show the full extent of your lost wages, many times an economic expert will be hired to comb through your documents and create an “economic loss report” that calculates and tabulates your lost wages up through retirement age. Seeking the help of an experienced injury attorney will make the process easier and help ensure fair compensation.
How Much Is My California Lost Wages Claim Worth?
Again, every case is unique, so it’s difficult to place a general value on a lost wages claim. Ultimately, the worth of your particular case usually involves the evidence you have, the amount of lost wages you have, and how blatant your employer’s actions were that led to you losing your job.
There are other considerations in a claim for lost wages, known as mitigation of damages. As a plaintiff in an employment lawsuit, you have a duty to “mitigate” your damages, meaning you have to make a concerted effort to find other employment.
This is a bit of a double-edged sword, because if you find a higher paying job, you will have “mitigated” your losses and may not receive as much compensation for the wages you lost. On the other hand, if you are forced to accept a lower paying job, the amount of damages you may recover could be raised to meet what you would have made at your old job.
No matter how well your facts may line up, every lawsuit is a gamble. Thus, it’s important to consult with our experienced California employment lawyers. Not only can we provide you with a roadmap of what to expect in a case, we have a proven track record of success in helping clients like you recover lost wages and other forms of compensation that is owed.
Experienced and Skilled California Employment Lawyers
Every worker in California relies on their job for many things, but most importantly for income to pay bills and provide for their family. When your employer decides to violate your workplace rights and takes these crucial wages away from you, they need to be held accountable. Working with the team of experienced California employment lawyers at Maison Law can help you recover the compensation you deserve. To find out more, contact us today for a free consultation.
