California Labor Law and the Four Most Common Mistakes Employers Make

California Labor Law is an ever changing body of law. It is not uncommon for California employers to accept myth as fact when it comes to dealing with employees and their compensation

While we have found these violations most common in small to medium employers who do not have the benefit of large HR departments or California labor law attorneys, large employers are surprisingly guilty of some of the same infractions. As such, a slew of California class action cases have been filed in the past 10 years or so, making California a hotbed of class action litigation with the extensive protections available to California employees in the workplace.

The four most common mistakes employers make are:

1. Misclassifying an employee as exempt from overtime. This typically means paying the employee a salary and having the employee work in excess of 8 hours in day or 40 hours in a week without paying overtime. Also, it is typical in this scenario to not permit the employee to take a 30 minute uninterrupted lunch break. Both of these examples represent a violation of California labor laws and provide the impetus for a wage claim.

2. Another common scenario is employers having their employees pay some or all of their own expenses related to their employment. It is not uncommon for employees to use their own car for work related errands. In actuality, unless employee related expenses are clearly allocated as part of the compensation of the employee, they must be reimbursed. Use of cell or home phones is another abused area. If an employer is requesting an employee to make calls outside of work hours using their own cell phone or home phone, such charges should be reimbursed.

3. Having a policy of ‘Comp time.” Generally, Comp time means having an employee come in early or stay late, not paying overtime, but instead giving that employee the allowance of coming in late or leaving early on a subsequent day.

4. Vacation Forfeiture is another common problem. When an employee is separated from work, that employee must be paid all accumulated vacation along with their final wages. In addition, a “use it or lose it policy” is also illegal under California labor laws. It is lawful for vacation to be paid out under company policy as wages if not used, however, vacation time does not expire nor can it be taken away once accrued in California.

Our Attorneys have handled over 700 individual cases, and prosecuted over 150 class action cases related to California employment matters.

If you have experienced any of the above violations, it is important to talk to a California labor law attorney immediately.

You can visit the website above or call our offices at:

(415) 200-0012 – 101 California St Ste 2450, San Francisco, CA. 94111