Wage & Hour Litigation

One of the most frustrating curveballs a California employer can receive comes in the form of wage and hour claims. When a wage and hour claim enters litigation, it often turns into a lengthy and profoundly expensive process. This may then impede your ability to manage your business’s day-to-day operations, possibly costing you more money in potential damages.

However, being struck with a wage and hour claim is far from a hopeless scenario if you’re the owner of a small- or medium-sized California business. As an employer, you have the right to stand up for your business and defend its reputation. If your business has received a claim against it, you have options. To succeed in your defense, it’s essential that you work with an experienced firm that understands the complexities of California wage and hour law.

After an employment claim against your business, discuss your case with the team at Fishman, Larsen & Callister.

Your employees can sue you under the California Labor Code. Unfortunately, businesses may be sued for underpaying employees even if they aren’t guilty of doing so. Because of this, it’s crucial to understand your options after such a filing takes place. Finding appropriate legal counsel for guidance and support throughout the process can ensure your business isn’t treated unfairly or taken advantage of.

The goal of these claims is generally for an employee to collect the allegedly unpaid wages, as well as interest, back pay, and lawyer’s fees.

As you might expect, this can be an extremely costly position for an employer. Not only is the cost of litigation high, but litigation can also do significant damage to the reputation and integrity of a business, causing your company to lose key resources that it needs to survive and grow. Sadly, even innocent businesses can be damaged by such claims.

If your employee sues you for underpaid wages, your best option is to get in touch with a wage and hour attorney to discuss your next steps.

As with most forms of litigation, how long a wage and hour claim takes depends upon the complexity of the case, the severity of the claim, and the number of defendants making a claim, among other factors. Because they tend to have multiple appeals, it isn’t uncommon for these lawsuits to be relatively drawn out. Expect litigation to last a minimum of one year for a standard wage and hour claim. If your claim is more complex or the suit brought against you is for a high amount, you’ll want the process to last longer in the event that you need to negotiate.

The more determined you are to fight the claim, the longer the wage and hour claim is going to take.

The skill and experience level of your attorney will also play a critical role in the length of a wage and hour claim. This is why it’s essential that you hire a lawyer you can trust and who has an extensive track record of wins under their belt. If you’re a California resident, discuss your case with the expert legal team of Fishman, Larsen & Callister.

In the state of California, your employees have three years to file a wage and hour claim. If someone attempts to file a claim after this point, it will be rejected — no matter the circumstances or evidence.

Wage and hour law is complex, and there are several laws that an employer can be sued for violating. Most commonly, California workers will sue their employer for one of the following violations:

On occasion, California employers will also fail to abide by minimum wage laws. Considering the new changes to California employment law, this could be an easy mistake to make. However, unless it is rectified, it could have severe consequences since employees can pursue legal action against their employer to receive lost wages. As of 2020, the CA minimum wage was increased to $13 an hour for businesses with 26 employees or more. If your company has fewer than 26 employees, then minimum wage is currently set at $12 an hour. This is a $1 increase from the prior year, where the minimum wage was brought up from $12 and $11, respectively.

As the CA minimum wage changes, it is important that both employers and workers within the state remain aware of the laws to ensure that no one is being underpaid. If you’ve added employees to your team to push you over the 26 employee mark, then it might be time to discuss changes to your business and employee contracts with an attorney.

If an employee eventually wins a wage and hour claim against your business, the damages you pay will vary, depending on the specific laws being violated.

For instance, if the employer has been paying below minimum wage, or if they have been failing to pay correctly for overtime, then their worker could receive the unpaid money in the form of damages. However, remember to account for interest, as well as lawyer’s fees and any litigation costs, which could also factor into the equation.

If your employee claims that they were paid below minimum wage or weren’t paid overtime, and this wasn’t due to a simple accident on your behalf, it is also possible for them to receive liquidated damages; these damages would be equal to the sum of the unpaid wages plus interest.

Alternatively, if the CA wage and hour claim brought against you is due to an accusation of depriving workers of required breaks, then your employee could receive one hour’s pay (at the standard rate) for every break that they were allegedly deprived of.

According to CA employment law, no employer can legally retaliate against an employee for filing a wage and hour claim. For instance, if an employer fires an individual from their position for this reason, it would be considered wrongful termination. Even if the employer doesn’t fire anyone, they may still be violating the law for other forms of retaliation or discrimination. For instance, if a worker was unfairly demoted, or if they have had their hours severely cut back due to the claim, this could be seen as retaliation.

For these reasons, it is never a good idea to respond or make changes to an employee’s status after they’ve filed a wage and hour claim against you. Even if you are responding to other employee issues, discuss any changes with your attorney beforehand.

A common way that employers might underpay employees is by misclassifying them as something other than a standard “employee.” Depending upon a worker’s title or status, it’s possible that they could have particular taxes withheld, or they could be given (or not given) certain benefits.

For example, sometimes an employee might be misclassified as either a manager or an assistant manager. Although this is not always the case, in some instances, employers may be lawfully permitted to deprive managers of overtime compensation, as well as breaks. Even so, the manager will need to fit highly specific requirements for this to be true.

Further, if you misclassify an employee as an independent contractor, this can have a significant impact on their wages and tax payments. Although the divide between an employee and an independent contractor can grow murky, always remain conscious of how you are classifying your employees, as misclassification can significantly increase the chances of a claim being filed against you.

Are you a California small or medium-sized business owner and have been accused by an employee of either underpaying or unlawfully depriving them of wages? Be sure to get in touch with a CA wage and hour lawyer at your earliest convenience. By consulting with an attorney, you can receive an expert opinion on the strength of your case, as well as how to best proceed.

The legal team at Fishman, Larsen & Callister are highly experienced in CA wage and hour claims, and we’re always willing to fight for the rights of employers within the state. To schedule a consultation with us, simply fill out the contact form on our website or give our office a call.