Articles Posted in Wage and Hour Violations

The California Supreme Court recently issued an opinion addressing whether belt sorting qualified as “public works” under California’s Labor Code (CLC). According to the record, the Los Angeles County Sanitation District (District) and a neighboring Recycling and Transfer facility operate the county’s transfer and disposal of trash. The defendant in this matter is a staffing…

The law requires that employers provide non-exempt California employees the ability to receive meal breaks and rest periods. In some instances, employers must provide exempt employees with the right to take meal breaks. The law does not extend to certain workers such as farm and domestic workers, or personal attendants. Under the state’s wage and…

Hundreds of thousands of California independent contractors and gig workers will likely not have to reimburse the state for overpaid Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefits. The new COVID-19 stimulus package signed into law allows states to waive attempts to collect excessive PUA payments as long as workers meet two requirements: Their original PUA application was…

A nearly decade-long court battle ends as national department store chain Burlington Stores Inc. has agreed to pay almost $20 million for misclassifying workers to avoid paying them overtime. According to court records, roughly 1,630 employees will receive an average payment of $12,000 as part of the settlement. California workers are included under a second…

For decades, farmworkers in California were excluded from most state and federal wage and hour laws requiring employers to pay overtime for time worked exceeding 40 hours per week or eight hours per day. Since 1976, agricultural employers were only required to pay OT to those working more than 10 hours a day or 60…

State and federal laws protect California workers against employers who expect or require their employees to perform work-related duties without compensation. Working “off the clock” is a common wage and hour violation for any uncompensated work done for an employer that should count for overtime purposes. Typical off-the-clock violations California labor laws as well as…

Employers sometimes commit wage theft through illegal deductions from their workers’ paychecks. California law protects employees and penalizes employers for these violations, just as they do for failing to pay overtime, denying rest or meal breaks or other illegal activity. In the Golden State, employers can only make deductions allowed under state or federal laws,…

As an employee, you have the right to fair treatment by your employer. This doesn’t mean everything will always go as planned, but there are both federal and state laws in place to help protect you against unfair circumstances. If you suspect that you were wrongfully terminated, you’re sure to have feelings of both frustration…

Employers commit wage theft in a number of ways, such as not paying minimum wage or overtime, refusing to give rest or meal breaks or failing to follow other wage and hour laws. If you experience any of these infractions, you can submit a claim with the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE). Here…

An economic think tank says workers – especially those whose earnings are at or near the minimum wage – are more likely to experience wage violations during an economic downturn. The Washington Center for Equitable Growth says workers, on average, lose one-fifth of their pay to wage theft. Researchers say even when the economy is…