California Labor Laws: Asserting Your Employee Rights

Many employees when experiencing a labor violation are confused as to where to turn and typically take one of four paths.

1. A very common path and usually the most treacherous, is doing nothing at all. When an employee is hesitant to hire California overtime lawyers or California labor law attorneys to handle a situation, it usually gets worse before it gets better. Complacency will typically cause labor violations to become more frequent. California labor law attorneys have found that “where there is smoke there is fire” and when one violation is discovered, many others are found.

2. The next course of action frequently taken by employees experiencing a California labor law violation is attempting to handle the problem “through the Employer’s channels or procedures”. This course of action has risks of its own and one of the biggest dangers in filing a formal Employer complaint “though the proper channels” is the risk of retaliation. Employees do not realize that by filing an official complaint they place their employers on guard and exposed to liability if the employer retaliates. Once a complaint is filed for a labor violation, if the employer then retaliates and demotes, harasses, suspends or fires the employee, that employer exposes themselves to additional liability.

3. Another option an employee may exercise is going to the labor board. The California Labor Board does however have limitations, in that they will not purse the 4th years (Unfair Business Practice Claim) as a private attorney would and therefore they may shorten the amount of their claim. Furthermore, the California Labor Board handles very small claims and may not always pursue the employee’s claims as vigorously as California overtime lawyers might. The California Labor Board also has a serious limitation in that if either party prevails, the other party has the option to appeal and have the case start all over. Once this occurs, and employee will need to find a California labor law attorney to represent them and also faces the risk that if they lose this appeal the loser must pay the winning parties attorney fees and court costs. On the other hand, if an employee hires California overtime lawyers to handle the claim from the outset and prevails on any part of the claim, the Employer must pay the Employee’s attorney fees. This is a huge advantage. As you can see the California Labor Board has severe limitations and is designed for smaller disputes where the employee does not mind some uncertainty of outcome. While the California Labor Board is free of charge- sometimes you get what you pay for!

4. California overtime lawyers and California labor law attorneys may be the best option when it comes to the enforcement of California labor laws. When an employee hires an attorney who is experienced in California overtime laws, the outcome may be better than testing the waters at the California Labor Board and surely much better than doing nothing at all. Case law and statutes are constantly evolving and knowledgeable California overtime lawyers or California labor law attorneys can in many instances pinpoint the applicable laws and cases that could bring an employee to victory. Even better, if your attorney wins, your employer must pay his or her legal fees!

In closing, an employee has several choices. Hiring a qualified professional to protect your interests is imperative if you want good results. Interview several California labor law attorneys and find out who you feel most comfortable with.