Yes. California’s Labor Code has several provisions relating to how your employer is supposed to pay you. Specifically, your employer must provide you with: minimum wage, overtime, your last paycheck after firing you.
You work hard to provide for your family and loved ones in California, spending a majority of their time on the job. While your job provides you with numerous other benefits, the main purpose of working for you and most of your coworkers is to earn income to pay your bills.
California law is centered around this fact, and as such, has provisions in place that govern how your employer is to pay you properly and correctly.
Expert California Wage and Hour Lawyers Can Help You
Maison Law knows how hard you and other California employees work to bring home money to support your family. When your employer fails to pay you correctly, they’re not only taking money away from you and your family, but they’re breaking the law.
When your employer doesn’t pay you correctly, our team of expert California wage and hour lawyers can help you recover the payment with interest. To learn more about how our team can help you, contact us today for a free consultation.
California Wage and Hour Law
The provisions of the California legal system that deal with “wage and hour” protections are found in the California Labor Code. These laws hold that your employer must provide you with the following:
- Minimum wage
- Overtime pay if you work over 8 hours in one day 40 hours in one week
- Your final paycheck in a timely manner.
Also, your employer cannot purposefully misclassify you as an exempt (non-hourly) employee or independent contractor for the purposes of not paying you overtime.
Minimum Wage
In January 2022, California passed Senate Bill (SB) 3, which raised the minimum wage to:
- $15 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees.
- $14 per hour for employers with 25 or fewer employees.
What this means is that your employer is legally required to provide you and other employees with this minimum wage. For the vast majority of California employees, this wage is the absolute lowest amount they will be paid.
Overtime Pay
According to Section 510 the California Labor Code, your employer is legally required to provide you with the following:
- One and a half times your regular wage after you work 8 hours in a day, 40 hours in a week, or for six consecutive days in a week.
- Two times your regular wage after working 12 hours in one day or 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day in a week.
The law also provides a time limit in which your employer has to pay you overtime, with your employer having to provide your overtime pay by the second regular payday following the overtime period.
Additionally, the law protects you from being misclassified by your employer. Overtime pay applies only to “non-exempt” (hourly) employees, so some employers will try to misclassify you in an attempt to get around paying you overtime. Ultimately, the failure of your employer to pay you overtime pay is a violation of the law and can allow you to recover these lost wages, as well as multiples of the missed payment.
Final Paycheck
Section 202 of the Labor Code is devoted specifically to the rules and regulations surrounding how your employer is to give you your final paycheck, and the timing in which they are supposed to
- Your employer must give you your final paycheck immediately upon termination.
- If you quit without notice, your employer has 72 hours to issue your final paycheck.
- If you provide at least 72 hours of notice prior to quitting your job, your employer must issue your final paycheck on your last day of work.
Further, your final paycheck must include not just your wages for the pay period, but your:
- Wages for all hours worked, including overtime and double time.
- Payment for all accrued, unused vacation time.
Certain seasonal workers and those in the oil& gas or entertainment industries have their own specific timing requirements for their final paycheck. Outside of these employees, the vast majority of California employers are bound by the law to pay you your final paycheck on time.
Can I Sue My Employer For Not Paying Me Correctly in California?
In California, these violations are legally considered to be “unpaid wage” claims. As with any other violation of workplace laws, you have the option to bring legal action against your employer to recover wages that you are owed but have not received.
Further, for certain claims, even if your employer eventually provides you with the payment, you can still pursue action because they failed to pay you in a timely manner. As a general matter, the civil penalty for the initial violation is $200, on top of potentially being ordered to pay 25 percent of the unlawfully withheld amount.
Unpaid wage claims differ from other employment lawsuits in that your employer really has few defenses for paying you late. Still, like any claim, filing a lawsuit against your employer for any unpaid wages requires the following documentation to prove your claims:
- Paystubs
- Hours worked
- Any bounced checks
- Any notices received by the employee
A successful unpaid wage claim can help you recover the following damages from your employer:
- Unpaid wages
- Back pay
- Liquidated damages
As with other employment claims, there is a statute of limitations on unpaid wage claims. In California, you have three years from the date of your last paycheck to file an unpaid wage claim in civil court.
Top Rated California Wage and Hour Lawyers At Your Service
Getting paid correctly and on time is among the most important parts of any employment relationship. After all, most of us in California work hard and expect to be paid accordingly. Sometimes, though, your employer may try to skirt their responsibilities to you or other employees.
When that happens, our team of experienced and knowledgeable California employment lawyers can help make sure that you recover what you’re owed.
To learn more about your legal options and how our team can help you, contact us today for a free consultation.
