Wage & Hour Attorney In Los Angeles, California

If you work in L.A. County, and haven’t been paid fairly by your employer, our aggressive attorneys will fight for compensation.

Contact Southern California Attorneys, A.P.C. to schedule a consultation with a lawyer today.

Occasionally, employers may simply misunderstand the laws; other times, they intentionally avoid paying their employees what they deserve in order to keep more profit in their own pockets. In either scenario, the employees are victims of wage theft and deserve to be compensated for the wages they rightfully earned! Recovering this compensation can be an uphill battle. Most employers aren’t willing to admit wrongdoing or to give wronged employees full backpay. Since employers have most of the power in this dynamic, if you suspect that you weren’t paid correctly, you need an advocate on your side who can stand up for your legal rights and recover the wages you should have been paid in the first place. The Los Angeles wage & hour lawyers at Southern California Attorneys, A.P.C., will relentlessly pursue justice for you. Even if you are undocumented or don’t have the ability to pay legal fees, our attorneys can still help you. Call today to schedule a free and completely confidential consultation with our team!
‍

How can you tell if you are a victim of wage theft?

‍There are many ways that employers can underpay their Los Angeles employees. A few of the most common instances of wage theft include:

Misclassifying workers

Employees fall into one of two major categories: exempt, and non-exempt. Most people think of this as “salaried” (exempt) and “hourly” (non-exempt), but it’s a bit more complicated than that; it does have to do with the type of job you perform as well as how you are paid. Non-exempt employees in Los Angeles and the surrounding communities are entitled to overtime pay and more protections under the law. However, greedy employers may incorrectly classify you as an “exempt” employee in order to get away with not paying you for overtime and giving you other benefits.
‍

Failing to pay the correct minimum wage

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. However, California’s minimum wage increased in 2022 to $15 an hour for businesses with 26 employees or more and $14 for businesses with 25 employees or fewer. In Los Angeles County, the minimum wage increased in 2022 to $16.04. The law states that employees are to be paid the highest possible minimum wage based on where they work. That means that if you are a non-exempt employee currently working in L.A., you should be paid $16.04 for every hour that you work – not $15 or $7.25. Many employers fail to pay L.A. employees the correct amount.
‍

Failing to pay the correct overtime rate, or pay for overtime at all

Los Angeles employees should be paid a “time-and-a-half” (50% of their regular hourly pay on top of their regular hourly pay) for any hours worked more than 8 hours a day, 40 hours in a week, or for the first 8 hours on their 7th consecutive workday. They should be paid “double time” (twice their regular hourly pay) for any hours worked more than 12 hours a day, or for any hours after those first 8 on their 7th consecutive workday. Overtime rules can be confusing, but that doesn’t give an employers an excuse to not pay employees properly for overtime.

Forcing employees to share tips with management/docking an employee’s hourly wage based on tips earned

Even employees who make tips are still guaranteed the right to be paid the same minimum wage. Their pay cannot be decreased to an amount below the minimum wage just because they are making additional tips! Employers must also pay for credit card processing fees. While tip pooling, or tip sharing, is legal in Los Angeles, workers cannot be forced to share tips with management or anyone who has the power to terminate their employment.
‍

Why should you work with our Los Angeles wage & hour lawyers?

If your employer isn’t paying you correctly, they are stealing from you. They are stealing money that you have worked hard for. They are stealing your chance at seizing financial opportunities. They are stealing your ability to build up financial security and provide fully for your family. That’s not right, and you deserve justice! Many people in your shoes tend to avoid hiring a lawyer because they either don’t believe their claim is worth that much, they are in the country illegally, they are scared to be fired, they don’t believe that they have the financial means to retain legal representation, or they believe it will be easiest to bring a claim against their employer themselves. None of those reasons should stop you from calling our law firm! Here’s why…If you suspect that you have been underpaid, even if not by that much, it is likely there are other areas in which you have been underpaid that you have not yet noticed. Your claim may be worth more than you think, and our attorneys can help you calculate its value! If you are in the country illegally, you still are protected under wage & hour laws; you don’t have to settle for less than fair pay, and attorney privilege means that you can discuss your case honestly with us without fear of deportation. Your employer is legally forbidden to retaliate against you in any way for taking legal action, so you don’t have to be afraid of being fired. If you win your case, most courts will order employers to pay attorney fees for you. Our Los Angeles wage & hours lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, so you never pay our fees upfront! And filing a legal claim against your employer can be a time-consuming, confusing process. Working with our lawyers gives you the best chances at recovering the maximum amount of compensation possible with the least amount of effort and stress on your part!