Common California Labor Law Violations - Know Your Rights!

The purpose of California labor law is to protect employees from being taken advantage of by their employer and to ensure a common standard of living and or working. The United States and California have both come a long way since the Industrial Age when children worked alongside their parents 7 days a week, and often 12 to 14 hours per day without breaks. Today California labor law is designed to regulate everything from wrongful termination of employment to wage and hour compliance, with the latter being commonly referred to as California overtime law.

Some of the most common misconceptions regarding California overtime law revolve around how overtime is actually calculated. Often workers are under the impression that any hours over 40 in a week are considered overtime. While this is correct, it is not the entire truth either. California overtime law mandates that for every hour worked over 8 hours in a day and 40 hours in a week, the worker is to be paid one and a half times their regular rate of pay. Time and again, employers will try to avoid paying overtime completely by attempting to place the employees on salary, otherwise known as “exempt from overtime.” Fortunately for California employees, California labor law is quite specific when authorizing what jobs can be considered salaried, or “exempt from overtime pay.” The most important thing to remember is that exemption status is determined by the actual work or duties performed by the employee and not by the job title given to them by their employer. The best way to be certain you have not been misclassified as salaried exempt, is to contact a California labor law attorney to discuss your job duties.

An experienced California labor law attorney is also able to help determine if you have a legitimate claim involving improper meal and break periods. Most California workers are aware that California labor law requires a half hour lunch break. However, California labor law does require that this break be uninterrupted and be taken within the first 5 hours of a shift lasting at least 6 hours. Additionally, if the employee works a “10 hour day” then he/she is entitled to a second half hour, uninterrupted break. The law also states that for every 4 hours an employee works he or she is required to be provided a “10 minute uninterrupted break.”

Contacting a California labor law attorney can also be instrumental in proving a wrongful termination of employment claim. There are a number of factors that may constitute a potential claim for wrongful termination of employment. For example, if an employee feels they were terminated because he/she reported an employer’s safety violation, a potential case may exist for wrongful termination of employment based on retaliation. To cite another example, an African-American employee is told that he is being let go because of downsizing, only to discover later that the employer has immediately hired a Caucasian replacement for his exact position. This may very well constitute a wrongful termination of employment based on race.

The bottom line is that California labor law was designed to protect the California worker. If you suspect that your rights under California overtime law have been violated, or you believe you may have a claim for wrongful termination of employment, it may be wise to retain a skilled California labor law attorney to discuss your legal options. Remember that “knowing your rights” is just the start to insuring that the California labor laws designed to protect you are effective. You may be entitled to recover your wages, or your job, or both!