California Wage & Hour Attorney

 

Employees deserve to be paid for all time worked and to receive the meal breaks, rest breaks, wages, overtime, reimbursements, and wage statements required by California law. When employers fail to pay employees properly, misclassify workers, deny breaks, require off-the-clock work, or delay final wages, employees may have claims for wage and hour violations.

 

At Stroman Employment Law, California employment attorney Cody Stroman represents employees in claims involving unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest breaks, off-the-clock work, unreimbursed business expenses, wage statement violations, waiting time penalties, and other violations of California labor laws.

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What Are Wage and Hour Violations in California?

 

Wage and hour violations occur when an employer fails to pay employees correctly or fails to follow California’s rules governing wages, hours, breaks, reimbursements, and final pay. These violations can affect hourly employees, salaried employees, commissioned employees, misclassified independent contractors, and employees wrongly classified as exempt from overtime.

 

Common wage and hour violations include:

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• Unpaid minimum wages

• Unpaid overtime

• Off-the-clock work

• Missed, late, short, or interrupted meal periods

• Missed rest breaks

• Automatic meal-period deductions

• Unpaid training, onboarding, or travel time

• Unpaid commissions or bonuses

• Unlawful deductions from wages

• Failure to reimburse business expenses

• Inaccurate wage statements

• Failure to provide sick pay

• Late payment of wages

• Failure to pay all wages owed at termination

• Misclassification as an independent contractor

• Misclassification as an exempt employee

 

Even small wage violations can add up quickly, especially when the same unlawful pay practice continues over weeks, months, or years.

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Unpaid Minimum Wages and Off-the-Clock Work

 

California employees generally must be paid for all hours worked, including time spent performing job duties before clocking in, after clocking out, during unpaid breaks, at home, while traveling between work locations, or while responding to work-related calls, texts, emails, or messages.

 

Off-the-clock work may include:

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• Opening or closing duties

• Pre-shift setup work

• Post-shift cleanup

• Waiting time controlled by the employer

• Donning or doffing required equipment

• Completing paperwork or reports

• Responding to calls, texts, emails, or workplace apps

• Attending required meetings or trainings

• Completing onboarding tasks

• Traveling between job sites during the workday

 

If an employer knew or should have known that an employee was working, the employer may be required to pay for that time.

 

Unpaid Overtime

 

California law provides strong overtime protections. Many non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime pay when they work more than 8 hours in a workday, more than 40 hours in a workweek, or more than 6 consecutive days in a workweek. Employees may also be entitled to double-time pay in certain circumstances.

 

Overtime violations may occur when an employer:

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• Fails to track all hours worked

• Pays a flat daily or weekly rate without overtime

• Misclassifies an employee as exempt

• Misclassifies an employee as an independent contractor

• Fails to include bonuses, commissions, shift differentials, or other compensation in the regular rate of pay

• Requires employees to work before or after their scheduled shifts

• Alters time records

• Discourages employees from reporting overtime

 

An employee may still be owed overtime even if they are paid a salary, called a manager, treated as an independent contractor, or told that overtime was not authorized.

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Meal and Rest Break Violations

 

California employees are generally entitled to legally compliant meal and rest breaks. Employers must provide employees with an opportunity to take duty-free, uninterrupted meal periods and must authorize and permit rest breaks.

 

Meal and rest break violations may include:

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• Meal periods not provided

• Meal periods provided too late

• Meal periods shorter than 30 minutes

• Interrupted meal periods

• Employees required to remain on call during breaks

• Employees required to work through breaks because of staffing or business needs

• Rest breaks not permitted or discouraged

• Automatic 30-minute deductions even when no compliant meal period was taken

• Failure to pay meal or rest period premiums

 

When employers fail to provide compliant meal or rest breaks, employees may be entitled to premium pay.

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Misclassification as an Independent Contractor

 

Some employers improperly classify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying wages, overtime, payroll taxes, sick pay, reimbursements, workers’ compensation, and other employee protections.  This includes paying employees "under the table."

 

A worker may be misclassified as an independent contractor when the employer controls how the work is performed, sets the schedule, provides the work assignments, requires the worker to follow company policies, or treats the worker like an employee while denying employee protections.

 

Misclassification can result in claims for unpaid wages, unpaid overtime, missed breaks, unreimbursed expenses, wage statement violations, sick pay violations, and waiting time penalties.

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Misclassification as an Exempt Employee

 

Employers may also misclassify employees as exempt from overtime by giving them a salary or a job title such as “manager,” “supervisor,” “administrator,” or “executive.” A title alone does not determine whether an employee is exempt.

 

Many salaried employees are still entitled to overtime, meal breaks, rest breaks, and accurate wage statements if their actual job duties do not satisfy an exemption.

 

Exempt misclassification may occur when an employee spends most of their time performing non-exempt work such as:

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• Customer service

• Sales

• Food preparation

• Cleaning

• Driving

• Manual labor

• Cashiering

• Data entry

• Routine administrative tasks

• Following established policies without meaningful discretion

• Performing the same work as hourly employees

 

If an employee is misclassified as exempt, they may be owed substantial unpaid overtime and other wage-related damages.

 

Unreimbursed Business Expenses

 

California employers generally must reimburse employees for necessary business expenses incurred while performing their jobs. Employees should not have to pay out of pocket for expenses that primarily benefit the employer.

 

Common unreimbursed business expenses include:

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• Mileage and vehicle expenses

• Cell phone use

• Internet expenses

• Work supplies

• Uniforms or required clothing

• Tools or equipment

• Parking and tolls

• Travel expenses

• Required licenses, certifications, or training costs

 

Employees may have reimbursement claims even if the expense was small each month, because recurring unreimbursed expenses can become significant over time.

 

Inaccurate Wage Statements and Payroll Records

 

California employees are entitled to accurate itemized wage statements. Wage statement violations may occur when paystubs fail to correctly list required information, such as hours worked, applicable hourly rates, gross wages, net wages, deductions, pay period dates, employer information, or accrued sick leave where required.

 

Wage statement violations often appear alongside other wage and hour problems. For example, if an employer fails to record off-the-clock work, misclassifies an employee, or pays cash under the table, the employee’s wage statements may also be inaccurate or missing.

 

Late Final Pay and Waiting Time Penalties

 

When employment ends, California law requires employers to timely pay all wages owed. Depending on whether the employee was terminated or resigned, different final pay deadlines may apply.

 

Final wages may include unpaid hourly wages, overtime, commissions, bonuses, accrued vacation, meal and rest period premiums, and other earned compensation. When an employer willfully fails to timely pay all final wages owed, the employee may be entitled to waiting time penalties.

 

Retaliation for Complaining About Wage Violations

 

Employees have the right to complain about wage theft and labor law violations without being punished. Employers may not retaliate against employees for asking about unpaid wages, requesting payroll records, discussing wages with coworkers, reporting missed breaks, complaining about off-the-clock work, or contacting the Labor Commissioner.

 

Retaliation may include termination, discipline, reduced hours, demotion, increased scrutiny, schedule changes, threats, or other negative treatment after the employee asserts their rights.

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What Compensation May Be Available?

 

Employees who experience wage and hour violations may be entitled to recover:

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• Unpaid minimum wages

• Unpaid overtime

• Meal and rest period premiums

• Unpaid commissions or bonuses

• Reimbursement for business expenses

• Sick pay

• Interest

• Liquidated damages, where available

• Wage statement penalties

• Waiting time penalties

• Civil penalties, where available

• Attorneys’ fees and costs, depending on the claims

 

The value of a wage and hour case depends on the employee’s pay rate, hours worked, length of employment, break violations, classification status, available records, and the employer’s pay practices.

 

Why Choose Stroman Employment Law?

 

At Stroman Employment Law, employees work directly with Cody Stroman, an experienced California employment attorney. Before representing employees, Cody represented employers at major national law firms. That background gives him insight into how companies analyze wage claims, defend pay practices, and attempt to justify unlawful classification or payroll decisions.

 

Today, Cody uses that experience to advocate for California workers who were denied the wages, breaks, reimbursements, and protections they are owed.

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Employees choose Stroman Employment Law because the firm offers:

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• Direct attorney communication

• Strategic case evaluation

• Experience with both employee and employer-side litigation

• Clear guidance through a stressful process

• Strong advocacy for California workers

• A focused commitment to employment law

 

Speak With a California Wage and Hour Attorney

 

If you were not paid for all hours worked, denied overtime, forced to work off the clock, misclassified, denied meal or rest breaks, not reimbursed for expenses, or not paid all wages owed at termination, you may have a wage and hour claim.

 

Contact Stroman Employment Law today for a free consultation with Cody Stroman, a California employment lawyer representing employees in San Francisco, the Bay Area, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and throughout California.

Practice Areas

Wrongful Termination
Workplace Discrimination

Sexual Harassment

Retaliation Claims

Wage & Hour Violations

Whistleblower Protection