The employment laws in California are clear about protecting the legal rights of employees. However, issues related to non-payment of wages or inadequate compensation for work done can still arise. Often, both employees and employers may not have a good understanding of the legal requirements concerning wages. It might be a good idea for both parties to get proper legal counsel to resolve the issues. You can search online for “wage and hour attorney Los Angeles” to find a competent and knowledgeable attorney to represent you.

Understanding wage requirements in California

To find out if your employer is paying you proper compensation, you need to understand the wage requirements in California:

Exempt and non-exempt employees

The wage requirements in California can differ depending on whether you are an exempt or non-exempt employee. If you hold a full-time job and your salary is twice the amount of minimum wage for the same number of hours in a month, you are an exempt individual. A non-exempt employee gets paid by the hour and may put in eight hours of work per day or 40 hours of work per week.

Minimum hourly wages

Employers with 25 or fewer employees have to pay them a minimum wage of $13 per hour. The minimum wage is $14 per hour for employers with 26 or more employees. Employers can face hefty fines if they pay their employees below the minimum wage per hour.

Overtime pay

It is legally mandatory for employers to compensate employees for all the hours they work. If you work overtime, you are entitled to receive overtime pay. It is one and a half times that of your regular hourly payment. So, if you work for the normal eight hours for your employer and then work for four additional hours, these four hours count as overtime.

If you earn $14 per hour, your regular compensation will be $14 x 8 = $112 and your overtime compensation will be $14 x 1.5 x 4 = $84. Your total compensation will be $112 + $84 = $196.

Double-time pay

If you work more than 12 hours per day, you are entitled to double your regular hourly payment. So, if your hourly pay is $14 and you work for four hours more than 12 hours per day, your compensation is $112 for the regular eight hours, $84 for the four hours of overtime, and $14 x 2 x 4 = $112 for the double-time pay. That brings your total compensation for 16 hours of work to $308.

Maintaining a wage record

Once you know how much you earn from regular, overtime, and double-time work, it is essential to keep accurate records of the number of hours you work, when you arrive at work, the breaks you take, and when you leave the workplace. When you receive your pay stub, you can compare your record with the one your employer is legally obliged to provide.

If there are errors on their part, you must bring these to the employer’s attention as soon as possible. It could be a genuine oversight that they can then correct. If they are deliberately withholding wages, they are engaging in wage theft, and you may need to take legal action to recover the unpaid wages.

Taking action to recover unpaid wages

There are several legal options you can consider to recover unpaid wages from your employer. You can contact the Labor Commissioner’s office and file a claim to recover the wages from your employer. It is essential to do this as soon as possible as there may be time limits on filing claims. For instance, the legal requirement might be to file a claim within three years. You can also consult your workers’ organization or get legal advice from a labor attorney.

By hiring a wage and hour attorney Los Angeles based employees can get the legal representation they need to take action against their employer and recover their unpaid wages. It is advisable at the start to ask the attorney what they will charge and get a clear idea of the legal fees involved and the compensation you can expect if you can prove the unpaid wages case against your employer.