Your Right to A Timely Paycheck in California
California is a state with many laws that are in favor of the rights of employees. The Federal government has a few laws that are helpful in terms of getting a paycheck in a timely manner, but generally, each individual state is responsible for ensuring that employees are paid in a timely manner. California is generally very employee oriented.
General Employee Rights
Many states have similar laws regarding the timely payment of employees, and California is no different. Aside from Alabama and South Carolina, all states require that payments to employees are made on either a weekly, biweekly, or monthly schedule. Most states also require that employers openly provide notice of their payday scheduling to employees. Different industries are often subject to different requirements; in Hawaii, for example, employees in the private sector must be paid once a month, while those in the public-sector must be paid on a semimonthly basis.
Defining A Pay Period
In California law, a pay period is defined as an amount of time that has been predetermined by you and your employer that counts towards a given paycheck. The important part here is that a pay period is predetermined and cannot be changed at the whim of your employer.
Frequency
In California, an employee must be paid at least two times per month. Administrative, executive, and professional employees can be paid once a month, but payment must be rendered by the 26th day of the month that they are working, including days off that they may have. Employers must always make sure that their employees are informed of the pay schedule in California, and are not allowed to operate outside of this schedule.
Resolving A Late Paycheck Problem
If you feel that your employer hasn’t been paying you in a timely fashion, there are steps you can take to resolve the issue. This process will not give you instant money; if you are short on cash it is important that you try to seek immediate restitution directly through your employer. If you have the time and resources to take a legal course of action, though, here are the steps that you’ll need to go through to resolve the problem:
- Get in touch with your employer. It is possible that your delayed paycheck was simply an oversight. While this doesn’t necessarily make things right, it does make the problem easier to rectify.
- File a claim with the labor agency in California.
- File a lawsuit in small claims court.
- Consider hiring an attorney who specializes in labor to assist you.
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