Wage & Hour Attorneys · Los Angeles, California
Your Employer Owes You Every Hour You Worked.
We'll Make Sure You Get It.
California has the strongest wage and hour laws in the country — and employers break them constantly. Unpaid overtime, missed meal breaks, stolen tips, off-clock work. If any of this happened to you, you may be owed years of back wages plus penalties. Our attorneys fight exclusively for employees.
$30M+ recovered · Free consultation · No fee unless we win
California Wage Law Goes Far Beyond What Most Workers Expect
California doesn't just follow federal wage law — it goes much further. The result is that many workers who think they're being paid correctly are actually owed significant back wages and penalties. California's overtime rule is triggered daily, not just weekly. Break violations create automatic premium pay. And violations can be pursued not just individually but through class actions and PAGA.
Overtime & Pay Violations
California overtime is triggered after 8 hours in a single day (not just 40 in a week), and double time after 12 hours. This means a worker putting in 10-hour days 4 days a week is owed overtime in California even if they never hit 40 hours. Add to that: off-clock work (setup, cleanup, training, meetings), salaried workers improperly classified as exempt, tip theft, and final paycheck delays — and the amounts owed add up quickly.
→ Even small daily differences — 15 minutes of off-clock prep work — multiply into thousands of dollars over months or years.
Break Violations
Every missed 30-minute meal break costs your employer one hour of premium pay. Every missed 10-minute rest break costs another hour. In industries where skipping breaks is routine — restaurants, warehouses, retail, healthcare — employers can owe thousands per employee in break premiums alone. California also requires that breaks be truly duty-free. A "lunch break" where you answer calls or watch the store is a missed break.
→ A 5-day workweek with one missed meal break and one missed rest break per day = 10 hours of premium pay weekly.
6 Situations People Don't Realize Count
Pre-Shift and Post-Shift Work
Required to be at work 15 minutes early for a briefing? Staying late to complete required paperwork? Making work calls while on your commute? All of this is compensable work time. If it was required or the employer knew about it and benefited from it, you are owed pay.
Salaried Doesn't Mean Exempt
Many salaried employees are incorrectly told they don't qualify for overtime. California requires a salaried worker to earn at least twice minimum wage AND spend more than half their time on qualifying exempt duties. If you're a salaried supervisor but spend most of your time doing the same work as hourly employees, you may be owed years of overtime.
Employer-Provided Meal Breaks That Aren't Really Breaks
A compliant meal break must be at least 30 minutes, uninterrupted, and duty-free. If you're expected to be available, answer questions, watch the counter, or eat at your workstation — that's not a compliant break and your employer owes you premium pay for every one of those shifts.
Tips and Service Charges Kept by Management
In California, employers cannot keep any portion of employee tips or mandatory service charges unless the charge is clearly communicated as not a gratuity. If management is dipping into tips, pooling them with non-tipped staff improperly, or keeping service charges, that is wage theft.
Piece-Rate Workers Paid for Production But Not All Hours
California requires piece-rate workers to be compensated for rest periods and other nonproductive time separately — not just through their per-piece rate. Agricultural workers, garment workers, auto technicians, and others paid per piece are frequently underpaid for this time.
Final Paycheck Delays
Fired employees must be paid immediately. Quitting employees must be paid within 72 hours or on their next payday (if proper notice was given). Late final paychecks trigger waiting time penalties: one full day of wages for every day the check is late, up to 30 days. Employers often owe far more than the missing wages.
Signs of a Strong Case
Every situation is different. But cases with these facts are typically the strongest — and more likely to result in significant recovery.
You regularly worked more than 8 hours in a day but were not paid overtime
You were not provided 30-minute meal breaks, or were interrupted during them
You worked in a role classified as salaried exempt but spent most of your time doing non-exempt tasks
Your tips were pooled with non-tipped staff or taken by management
You were required to perform setup, training, or cleanup before or after your paid shift
Your final paycheck was not provided on your last day of work (if fired) or within 72 hours (if you quit)
Multiple coworkers in similar roles experienced the same wage or break issues — potential class action
Your employer's violation appeared systematic — a policy, not a mistake
Wage claims do not require you to still be employed. You can pursue back wages from current or former employers. And because we work on contingency, you pay nothing unless we recover for you.
Why California Wage Law Is the Strongest in the Country
California's Labor Code and IWC Wage Orders go far beyond what federal law requires. Here's the full picture.
Daily overtime threshold
Federal law only requires overtime after 40 hours in a week. California requires overtime (1.5x) after 8 hours in a single day, double time (2x) after 12 hours, and time-and-a-half for the 7th consecutive day. An employer following only federal rules in California is already violating state law.
Meal and rest break premium pay
Federal law does not require meal breaks at all. California not only requires them but imposes automatic penalties (one hour of premium pay per violation) when they're missed or non-compliant. These penalties compound quickly and are independently recoverable.
PAGA penalties
California's Private Attorneys General Act allows employees to collect civil penalties on the state's behalf — $100–$200 per employee per pay period — in addition to unpaid wages. A single employer with 50 affected workers and a 2-year violation history can face millions in PAGA penalties alone.
Class action potential
Wage violations affecting multiple employees can be pursued as class actions in California, spreading the legal costs across all affected workers while dramatically increasing employer exposure. Individual claims worth a few thousand dollars can become multi-million-dollar class actions.
Broader exemption tests
California's test for exempt (overtime-exempt) status is stricter than federal law. Both the salary threshold and the duties test must be satisfied. Many workers classified as exempt under federal law are not exempt under California law.
No forced arbitration for Labor Code claims
California law (AB 51) restricts employers from forcing employees to arbitrate certain Labor Code claims as a condition of employment. You may have more access to court than in other states.
Who Can Be Held Liable
California law holds employers responsible for wage and hour violations in ways that go beyond what most people expect.
Your Direct Employer — Primary Liability
The company that employs you is responsible for all wage and hour violations in its operations. This includes failure to pay overtime, provide breaks, pay minimum wage, or deliver final paychecks on time. The company's policies and practices are attributable to the company.
Staffing Agencies & Temp Companies — Joint Employer Liability
If you were placed through a staffing or temp agency, both the agency and the company where you actually work may be jointly liable for wage violations. California law holds both entities responsible when they jointly control the terms of employment.
Individual Owners & Managers — Personal Liability
Under California Labor Code Section 558.1, owners, directors, officers, and managing agents can be held personally liable for wage violations. If a manager knowingly implemented policies that denied workers their rightful wages, that manager can be named individually in the lawsuit.
Wage & Hour Violations We See Across Every Industry
Wage theft doesn't just happen in low-wage jobs. We see violations in restaurants, offices, warehouses, healthcare, and tech companies. Here are the patterns we encounter most.
Restaurants & Food Service
- →Server works a double shift but management interrupts every meal break. Premium pay is never provided. Over a year, this employee is owed hundreds of hours of break premiums.
- →Line cook is required to show up 20 minutes early to prep stations before the shift starts. That 20 minutes is unpaid. Over three years, it adds up to over 200 hours of unpaid work.
Retail & Customer Service
- →Store associate is texted questions by a manager while on a lunch break and expected to respond. The break is interrupted — premium pay is owed for every such occurrence.
- →Retail manager is salaried and classified as exempt, but spends 80% of her time working the floor doing the same tasks as hourly associates. She is owed years of overtime.
Warehouse & Logistics
- →Warehouse workers are required to go through a security screening after clocking out. The screening takes 10–15 minutes. Under California law, this is compensable work time.
- →Package handlers are paid by the piece but their rest periods are not separately compensated. California requires piece-rate workers to be paid separately for rest and non-productive time.
Healthcare & Medical
- →Nurses are routinely asked to chart after their shifts end. This off-clock charting is compensable work — the hospital knows it's happening and does nothing.
- →CNA working 12-hour shifts is only permitted one 30-minute meal break. Under California law, shifts over 10 hours require a second meal break — or premium pay for its absence.
Construction & Trades
- →Workers are required to pick up tools and materials from a staging area before driving to job sites. The time gathering equipment before driving is compensable work time under California law.
- →Apprentices are misclassified as independent contractors. Under California's ABC test (AB5), they are almost certainly employees entitled to overtime, breaks, and workers' comp.
Corporate & Office
- →Marketing associate is expected to respond to emails and Slack messages in the evenings. If the employer knows about it and benefits from it, this off-hours work time must be compensated.
- →Inside sales rep is classified as exempt under a commission exemption, but does not earn more than 1.5x minimum wage in commissions for most months. The exemption is invalid — overtime is owed.
What You Can Recover
California law allows wage and hour victims to pursue several types of compensation. The value of a case depends on the amount owed, length of time violations occurred, and the employer's response. Our attorneys have recovered millions for employees in situations like yours.
Unpaid Wages & Overtime
Every hour of unpaid or underpaid work, including overtime at 1.5x or 2x your regular rate. California courts look back as far as the applicable statute of limitations allows — 3 years under Labor Code, 4 years under UCL.
Meal & Rest Break Premiums
One hour of premium pay for every missed or non-compliant meal break, and one hour per missed rest break. These accumulate quickly in industries where skipping breaks is routine.
Waiting Time Penalties
For late final paychecks: one full day's wages for every day the check is late, up to 30 days. On a $25/hour salary, that's up to $6,000 in penalties alone.
PAGA Penalties
Statutory civil penalties of $100–$200 per employee per pay period for Labor Code violations. In multi-employee cases, PAGA penalties can dwarf the underlying unpaid wages.
Interest & Liquidated Damages
In federal minimum wage claims under FLSA, employees can recover double the unpaid wages as liquidated damages. California claims also allow pre-judgment interest on unpaid wages.
Attorney's Fees & Costs
Under California Labor Code, prevailing employees in wage and hour cases are entitled to their attorney's fees. You pay nothing out of pocket — we advance all costs and only get paid if we win.
California Wage Claims Have Strict Deadlines — Up to 4 Years Back
You have 3 years from the date of each violation to file under the California Labor Code. Under the Unfair Business Practices Act (UCL), that window extends to 4 years. This means you can recover wages from as far back as 4 years ago — but only if you act. Every day you wait is a day of potential recovery lost.
Class actions and PAGA cases can extend the benefit of the deadline to all affected coworkers. Speaking with an attorney now preserves the maximum recovery.
How to Build a Wage & Hour Case — What You Already Have
You don't need perfect records. Employers are legally required to maintain accurate payroll records — and if they don't, courts can make reasonable inferences in your favor. Here's what helps.
Pay Stubs & W-2s
Your pay history shows whether overtime was calculated correctly and what your pay rate was. Discrepancies between hours worked and hours paid tell the core story.
Time Records
Timesheets, punch records, badge swipes, or work app logs showing when you actually started and ended work — including pre-shift and post-shift activity. If your employer manipulates time records, that itself is a violation.
Schedules & Calendars
Work schedules showing shift lengths, scheduled breaks, and the pattern of your work week. Calendar entries showing meetings, calls, or work activity outside scheduled hours.
Texts & Emails
Messages from managers directing work outside paid hours, interrupting breaks, or pressuring you not to report violations. Messages from coworkers corroborating the same conditions.
Coworker Accounts
Other employees who experienced the same wage violations strengthen a class action case dramatically. You don't need to coordinate with them — our attorneys can identify and contact potential class members through the legal process.
Your Own Written Account
A written record of what happened, including approximate dates, hours worked, breaks denied, and any conversations with management about your pay. Write this down as soon as possible — memory fades.
California places the burden of maintaining accurate wage records on the employer. If records are missing, altered, or inaccurate, courts presume the employee's estimates are correct. Your account matters.
Serving Wage & Hour Victims Across California
Our employment attorneys represent employees throughout California. We are based in Los Angeles and frequently handle cases from these cities and surrounding areas.
Don't see your city? We serve all of California. Contact us to discuss your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the questions we hear most from California employees who experienced wage and hour violations.
Does California overtime work the same as federal overtime?
No — California's rules are significantly more protective. Under federal law, overtime kicks in after 40 hours in a week. California requires overtime pay (1.5x) for any hours over 8 in a single day, and double time (2x) for hours over 12 in a day, plus time-and-a-half for the 7th consecutive day of work in a workweek. Employers who only follow federal rules in California are violating state law.
Are meal breaks required in California?
Yes. California law requires a 30-minute unpaid meal break for shifts over 5 hours. A second 30-minute meal break is required for shifts over 10 hours. If your employer fails to provide a compliant meal break, they owe you one hour of premium pay (your regular rate) for each missed break. Employees cannot validly waive the second meal break unless the first was taken and the shift is under 12 hours.
Are rest breaks required in California?
Yes. Employers must provide a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked (or major fraction thereof). A worker on an 8-hour shift is entitled to two 10-minute rest breaks. Unlike meal breaks, rest breaks are paid and must be duty-free. If an employer fails to provide a compliant rest break, they owe one additional hour of premium pay per missed break.
Can my employer make me work off the clock in California?
No. Any work performed — including pre-shift setup, post-shift cleanup, required training, mandatory meetings, checking work emails, or waiting for a work assignment — must be compensated. If your employer knew or should have known you were working and didn't compensate you, that's wage theft regardless of whether you were told you'd be paid.
What is the minimum wage in Los Angeles in 2025?
California's state minimum wage is $16.50 per hour as of January 1, 2025. Los Angeles city requires $17.28 per hour for most workers. Some industries like fast food have higher requirements ($20/hour statewide). Local minimum wages change regularly — if you're being paid below the applicable minimum wage, you are entitled to back pay plus penalties.
What are my rights if I'm misclassified as a salaried employee exempt from overtime?
California has strict tests for whether an employee qualifies as exempt from overtime. To be exempt, you must earn a salary of at least twice the state minimum wage AND spend more than half your work time on managerial, professional, or administrative duties. Many workers are improperly classified as exempt and are owed years of unpaid overtime.
How long do I have to file a wage and hour claim in California?
Three years from the date of the violation to file under the California Labor Code. Four years for claims under the Unfair Business Practices law (UCL). If the violation was willful, penalties under PAGA (Private Attorneys General Act) may also apply. These deadlines can be extended in class actions. Speaking with an attorney early preserves the most recovery.
What is PAGA and how does it help me?
PAGA (Private Attorneys General Act) allows California employees to sue on behalf of themselves and other affected employees for Labor Code violations. PAGA claims carry statutory penalties on top of unpaid wages — $100 per employee per pay period for initial violations, $200 for subsequent violations. A single employer with many affected workers can face enormous PAGA liability. It's one of the most powerful tools in California wage law.
Can I bring a class action for wage and hour violations in California?
Yes. If your employer's wage and hour violations affect multiple employees — through uniform policies like mandatory off-clock work, denied breaks, or misclassification — a class action may be appropriate. Class actions allow all affected workers to participate in a single lawsuit, increasing the employer's exposure and often resulting in larger settlements.
What is my final paycheck deadline in California?
If you are fired or laid off, your employer must pay your final paycheck immediately — on the day of termination. If you resign, your employer has 72 hours (or your next scheduled payday if you gave 72 hours' notice). For every day your final paycheck is late, you are entitled to one day's wages as a waiting time penalty — up to 30 days.
You Earned Every Hour. We'll Help You Get Paid.
Our attorneys have helped over 1,000 California workers recover what they were owed. The consultation is free, everything you share is confidential, and you never pay unless we win.
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