San Bernardino Wage and Hour Violations Lawyers
There are numerous laws relating to how much and when employees must be paid, with California having some of the most employee-friendly wage and hour laws in the nation.
Especially in the time of rising economic inequality, it is important that employees at least receive the compensation they are legally entitled to. However, many employers try to increase their profits at the expense of their employees even further by not paying the wages the law requires them to pay. Wage and hour violations are particularly common in places such as San Bernardino, which does not have as many attorneys practicing in this area of law as places such as Los Angeles or San Francisco.
When employers fail to pay their employees in accordance with the law, the employees may be able to file claims for unpaid wages and penalties. The San Bernardino wage and hour attorneys at Broslavsky & Weinman, LLP represent employees whose former or current employers have failed to compensate their workers properly. Our San Bernardino wage and hour lawyers have successfully helped numerous employees fight against unlawful employment practices. In each and every case we take on, our goal is the same – help employees hold employers accountable and obtain recovery they are entitled to.
Types of Wage and Hour Violations
Some of the more common wage and hour violations include:
Failure to pay minimum wage: The California minimum wage is currently $10.00 per hour, and is scheduled to be raised every year until 2022. The minimum wage requirements apply not only employees who are paid hourly, but also to all non-managerial employees, such as workers who are paid by piece rate, by commission, or by day of work.
Failure to pay overtime: Most employees must be paid 1.5 times their regular rate for all hours worked over 8 hours in any workday or over 40 hours in a workweek. Hours worked over 12 hours in a day must be paid at twice the rate.
Failure to pay for time preparing for work: Employers are required to compensate employees for tasks required to prepare for work before the official start of the shift, such as the time spent putting on protective equipment, cleaning a worksite, preparing merchandise, setting up machines etc. Employees can also be required to be paid for time spent going through security checks before and after their shifts.
Failure to Reimburse for Expenses: Employees must be reimbursed for work-related expenses, such as the purchase of uniforms and equipment, driving expenses (other than regular commute), and use of personal cell phones for work.
Failure to pay for waiting or on-call time: An employee is generally required to be paid for all time spent on employer’s premises, including any waiting and standby time (such as waiting for emergency calls or for arrival of a customer). Depending on the circumstances, even on-call time outside the employer’s place of business may also be compensable, particularly when there are geographical restrictions on the employee’s movements and the employee’s freedom to engage in personal activities is reduced.
Underpayment of wages due to “rounding”: Some employers use time-keeping systems that round down the employees’ clock-in and clock-out times to the nearest five, ten, or fifteen minutes. Paystubs that consistently show only round numbers ending in .00 or .50 may be indicative of improper rounding.
Unlawful deductions from wages: Employers are limited in the types of deductions they can make from employee paychecks. Some unlawful deductions employers sometimes make are deductions for workers compensation costs, repayment for training costs, maintenance, and deductions for broken equipment.
Independent Contractor Misclassification: Employers are increasing misclassifying people who work for them as “independent contractors,” even though they are under the employer control and are told when, where, and how to work. Workers misclassified in this manner are wrongfully deprived of various protections under the Labor Code, including minimum wage, overtime, reimbursement of expenses, meal and rest breaks, etc.
These are only some examples of possible wage and hour violations, and there are many other pay practices employers have come up with to save money that are unlawful.
Contact San Bernardino Wage and Hour Violations Attorneys
If you believe that your former or current employer’s wage and hour practices violated the law, contact our San Bernardino wage and hour attorneys at Broslavsky & Weinman, LLP for a free consultation. Call us at (909) 551-4455 or fill out the contact form on this page to speak about your potential claims with one of our lawyers.
Our San Bernardino wage and hour attorneys provide representation to employees throughout the entire county, including, but not limited to Ontario, Upland, Fontana, Redlands, and Rancho Cucamonga.
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