Employment Law
Are you concerned that you are working hours that you are not being compensated for? Let’s talk about it.
Effective January 1, 2020, the minimum wage has increased to $13 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees and $12 per hour for employees with 25 or fewer employees.
Are you concerned that you are not being paid the right amount of overtime, or overtimes not being paid at all? Let’s talk about it.
In California, the general overtime provisions are that a nonexempt employee 18 years of age or older, or any minor employee 16 or 17 years of age who is not required by law to attend school and is not otherwise prohibited by law from engaging in the subject work, shall not be employed more than eight hours in any workday or more than 40 hours in any workweek unless he or she receives one and one-half times his or her regular rate of pay for all hours worked over eight hours in any workday and over 40 hours in the workweek. Eight hours of labor constitutes a day’s work, and employment beyond eight hours in any workday or more than six days in any workweek requires the employee to be compensated for the overtime at not less than:
- One and one-half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of eight hours up to and including 12 hours in any workday, and for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek; and
- Double the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 12 hours in any workday and for all hours worked in excess of eight on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek
Is your employer not allowing you to take uninterrupted rest breaks? Let’s talk about it.
Employers of California employees covered by the rest period provisions of the Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders must authorize and permit a net 10-minute paid rest period for every four hours worked or major fraction thereof. Insofar as is practicable, the rest period should be in the middle of the work period. If an employer does not authorize or permit a rest period, the employer shall pay the employee one hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of pay for each workday that the rest period is not provided.
Does your employer retain control over your meal breaks, or are you not getting meal breaks at all? Let’s talk about it.
Under California law (IWC Orders and Labor Code Section512), employees must be provided with no less than a thirty-minute meal period when the work period is more than five hours (more than six hours for employees in the motion picture industry covered by IWC Order 12-2001).Unless the employee is relieved of all duties during the entire thirty-minute meal period and is free to leave the employer’s premises, the meal period shall be considered “on duty,” counted as hours worked, and paid for at the employee’s regular rate of pay.
Did you get fired and not receive your final pay check, or has your employer failed to pay you on time? Let’s talk about it.
In California, wages, with some exceptions, must be paid at least twice during each calendar month on the days designated in advance as regular paydays. The employer must establish a regular payday and is required to post a notice that shows the day, time and location of payment. Labor Code Section 207. Wages earned between the 1stand 15thdays, inclusive, of any calendar month must be paid no later than the 26thday of the month during which the labor was performed, and wages earned between the 16thand last day of the month must be paid by the 10thday of the following month. Other payroll periods such as weekly, biweekly (every two weeks) or semimonthly (twice per month) when the earning period is something other than between the 1stand 15th, and 16thand last day of the month, must be paid within seven calendar days of the end of the payroll period within which the wages were earned. Labor Code Section 204.
Do you believe you are misclassified as an independent contractor and you believe you should be an employee? Let’s talk about it.
There is a rebuttable presumption that where a worker performs services that require a license pursuant to Business and Professions Code Section 7000, et seq., or performs services for a person who is required to obtain such a license, the worker is an employee and not an independent contractor. Labor Code Section 2750.5 The actual determination of whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor depends upon a number of factors, all of which must be considered, and none of which is controlling by itself.