If Your Company Does This it Could COST YOU!
The Four Most Common Mistakes Made By Employers According to the California Labor Laws
The California Labor Laws are constantly changing. It is common for employers in California to acknowledge myths as fact when it comes to their employees and the compensation.
Although most of the violations are found in small to medium sized companies who do not have a large human resources department or labor law attorneys, larger companies are just as guilty when it comes to some of the same violations. There has been an increasing number of California class action lawsuits that have been filed over the last 10 years, causing California to be where the most class action cases with a variety of protection available to any California employee.
There are four most common violations that employers make:
1. Employers sometimes misclassify their employees as overtime exempt. This simply means that they pay their employee a regular salary and then have the employee work more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week without overtime pay. When it comes to this scenario, sometimes an employer will not give an employee an uninterrupted 30 minute lunch break. These are both examples that are considered a violation of the California Labor Laws and give the employee the option to file a wage claim.
2. Another common violation is when an employer has their employees pay for all or just some of their expenses that are related to their work. It is very common for employees to use their own vehicle to run work errands. The truth is, that unless work related expenses are stated as part of employee compensation in a work contract, they must be paid back for what they spend. Another form of these violations is when an employer asks an employee to use their own home phone or cell phone to make phone calls outside of work hours; any charges that have been incurred should be paid back.
3. An employer has a “Comp Time” policy. Comp time is when an employer has its employees stay late or come in early and not have to pay overtime. Instead, they allow the employee to leave early or come in late on another day.
4. Another common issue is forfeiting vacation time. When an employee is terminated from their job, they must be paid for any vacation time that was earned, as well as their final wages. It is considered illegal under the California Labor Laws to have a “use it or lose it” policy. The employer is allowed to pay for any unused vacation time, because vacation time cannot be taken away or expire once earned in California.
Our attorneys have prosecuted over 1500 class action proceedings as well as over 700 individual proceedings that are related to California employment.
If you believe that you have experienced any of the violations that are listed above, do not hesitate to speak to United Employees Law Group, as soon as possible.
Photo Credit: Shutterstock/ Dragon Images