We are an experienced employment attorney in Los Angeles. Our attorneys litigate labor and workplace law cases, ranging from wrongful termination and the abuse of employee rights to discrimination and sexual harrassment cases. For a free consultation with our attorneys to discuss your case, call us at (213) 568-4000.

Most labor analysts consider California one of the most labor-friendly states in the nation, due to the extensive protections afforded to employees by law. However, such rights are ultimately meaningless unless the employee or a group of employees is willing to call out unlawful behavior, either through official complaint and / or litigation. Taking action as an employee to address breaches of labor and employment law can not only help you rectify wrongs done to you as an individual, but can also help hold your employer accountable for how it treats all of its employees, both in the present and in the future. Employment law cases can be complex, and the exact process and steps required to take action can vary widely based on the nature of your employment and the specific case. Call Blair & Ramirez LLP for a free consultation.

In California, vacation days granted to employees do not come with a use-by date. If the employee leaves or is terminated before using accrued vacation days, the employer must pay those days out.

Our state protects employees against unexpected layoffs. Employers letting going of 50+ workers or closing down a location entirely must either provide their employees with 60-days notice or provide them with pay and benefits for 60 days after the layoff.

Employees should be paid for all the hours they work. Employers cannot force workers to work for free. They may also be responsible if they know or should have known that an employee is working off-the-clock voluntarily.

Under California law, employers must grant employees who they pay by-the-hour an unpaid, 30-minute meal break, plus a paid 10-minute break for every additional 4 hours of work beyond that. If the employee is working more than 10 hours, the employer must grant them a second 30-minute meal break. The most common violations of this law occur when the employer makes these legally mandated rest periods difficult or impossible for their employees to take.

Some employers attempt to skirt labor laws, legal protections, and taxes by labeling employees as “independent contractors.” This is illegal, and employees can recover compensation for being misclassified by their employer.

A key difference between an “independent contractor” and an “employee” is hinted at by name of the former. Independent contractors operate autonomously from company operations, and the employer can not dictate how they do their job, where they do it, or when they do it.

Another common area of misclassification is between exempt and non-exempt employees. The difference between the two is far from just academic: non-exempt employees must be paid for overtime work and provided with the appropriate meal and rest breaks for the hours they have worked—even if they are not hourly employees. Being a salaried employee is not the equivalent of being exempt; to meet that classification, the employee must be in a managerial, supervisory, or administrative role, and typically be making more than $30,000 per-year.

This type of misclassification and violations of state law typically occurs when an employer uses exempt status as a means of denying their employees overtime pay.

Non-exempt workers are entitled to overtime pay in situations where they work more than 8 hours-a-day or 40 hours-per-week. In California, this increased rate is 1.5 times the employee’s normal pay. This further scales up to 2 times normal pay when employees work more than 12 hours-per-day.

As outlined above, employers do not pay exempt employees for overtime work. However, California has guidelines that limit who qualifies as an exempt employee. Many overtime pay violations occur because of employee misclassification.

As of 2019, California’s minimum wage is $12/hour ($11/hour for businesses with fewer than 26 employees). Several cities in the Los Angeles area—including Los Angeles itself—have a higher minimum wage at $13.25/hour for businesses with more than 26 employees.

Many minimum wage violations occur when employers pay their employees a set amount for a certain job, knowing that the hours that job takes to complete will result in an overall per-hour pay rate below state or municipal minimum wage.