Wage Claims
If an employer fails to pay an employee for work performed, the employee may request compensation for the unpaid wages, including overtime pay for hours worked over eight hours per day (excluding meal periods) or forty hours per week.
Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for employers to engage in wage theft by underpaying wages or circumventing overtime rules. This not only harms the employee but also undermines the legal standards intended to protect workers. If an employer has failed to pay appropriate wages, employees may be entitled to recover significant back wages along with penalties for each affected pay period.
Our team is equipped with the expertise to ensure you receive every penny you are owed. If you suspect that you have been a victim of wage theft, don’t let it go unchallenged. If any of the following situations apply to you, reach out for legal help.
Tip Conversion
Tips are the exclusive property of employees. Employers are not allowed to interfere with or withhold them.
Employees should receive cash tips immediately and without employer interference. For tips on a credit card, the employee must receive the full amount by the next regular payday, with employers covering all credit card processing fees.
In California, tip pooling is allowed under specific conditions: only employees can participate, and managers, owners, and supervisors are excluded. California law also prohibits tip credits, meaning employers cannot use tips to count towards reaching minimum wage. Any employment contracts including tip credits are illegal.
If you believe your rights regarding tips are being violated, contact an attorney to discuss your options.
Discrimination
Discrimination based on disability, gender, age, religion, race, national origin, or other such factors is strictly prohibited by both California and federal law. For example, if an employer knows an employee has a disability or medical condition, they must work with the employee to find suitable accommodations, provided these do not cause undue hardship to the business. It is also illegal for employers to retaliate against employees for requesting accommodations.
Employers with five or more employees are also prohibited from discriminating employees based on gender, gender identity, or gender expression, which encompasses all aspects of a person’s gender-related appearance and behavior, regardless of the gender assigned at birth. This protection extends to transgender, genderqueer, and gender-fluid employees. Discrimination can manifest in various forms, such as restricting certain job types to specific genders, creating a work environment hostile to a particular gender, unequal pay, glass ceilings, or assigning reduced responsibilities based on gender.
Discriminating against employees over the age of 40 is also illegal. Age discrimination can manifest in various ways, such as termination, demotion, denial of promotions, forced retirement, or exclusion from work opportunities. If you find that your employer has favored a younger, less qualified candidate, refused to promote you, altered your benefits, or discriminated against you in other ways because of your age, it is important to seek legal assistance.
Victims of workplace discrimination need to demonstrate that their disability, gender, age, religion, race, national origin, or other such factors significantly motivated the negative employment actions they faced. If you believe you have a discrimination case, please contact us to discuss your situation further.
Wrongful Termination
Employers are prohibited by law from terminating employees based on their gender, disability, age, religion, race, national origin, or other such factors. Additionally, employers may not fire employees for raising complaints about unlawful acts committed by the company (including violations of employment laws and tax laws) or taking protected time off.
If you suspect wrongful termination, it is crucial to take steps promptly. Document everything related to your firing, including conversations and events leading up to it, as these details can be vital in court. Review your employment contract for any terms that might protect you against termination. Seek legal advice immediately after being fired. Time is of the essence due to strict deadlines for legal actions.
Sexual Harassment
In California, workplace sexual harassment occurs when it involves unwanted actions toward an employee based on gender, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, or pregnancy.
This type of harassment can appear in many forms, especially as employees increasingly connect through social media, emails, and text messages. Typical behaviors classified as sexual harassment include making inappropriate sexual jokes, unwanted touching, making threats of a sexual nature, displaying offensive visual materials, persistently soliciting sexual favors, and exhibiting sexual favoritism.
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California laws mandate that employers take proactive measures to prevent and address harassment. Employers with at least five employees must conduct regular sexual harassment training—two hours for supervisors and one hour for other staff. If harassment occurs, immediate action is required to rectify the situation and prevent further incidents.