California is a state with many laws that are in favor of the rights of employees. The Federal government has a few laws that are helpful in terms of getting a paycheck in a timely manner, but generally, each individual state is responsible for ensuring that employees are paid in a timely manner. California is generally very employee oriented.

General Employee Rights

Many states have similar laws regarding the timely payment of employees, and California is no different. Aside from Alabama and South Carolina, all states require that payments to employees are made on either a weekly, biweekly, or monthly schedule. Most states also require that employers openly provide notice of their payday scheduling to employees. Different industries are often subject to different requirements; in Hawaii, for example, employees in the private sector must be paid once a month, while those in the public-sector must be paid on a semimonthly basis.

Defining A Pay Period

In California law, a pay period is defined as an amount of time that has been predetermined by you and your employer that counts towards a given paycheck. The important part here is that a pay period is predetermined and cannot be changed at the whim of your employer.

Frequency

In California, an employee must be paid at least two times per month. Administrative, executive, and professional employees can be paid once a month, but payment must be rendered by the 26th day of the month that they are working, including days off that they may have. Employers must always make sure that their employees are informed of the pay schedule in California, and are not allowed to operate outside of this schedule.

Resolving A Late Paycheck Problem

If you feel that your employer hasn’t been paying you in a timely fashion, there are steps you can take to resolve the issue. This process will not give you instant money; if you are short on cash it is important that you try to seek immediate restitution directly through your employer. If you have the time and resources to take a legal course of action, though, here are the steps that you’ll need to go through to resolve the problem:

1. Get in touch with your employer. It is possible that your delayed paycheck was simply an oversight. While this doesn’t necessarily make things right, it does make the problem easier to rectify.
2. File a claim with the labor agency in California.
3. File a lawsuit in small claims court.
4. Consider hiring an attorney who specializes in labor to assist you.
   

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If your employer has broken any federal law or state law in California, then you are eligible to file a wage claim against him or her. In California, generally wage claims are filed in case the employer fails to provide the minimum wage or fails to provide overtime or meal expenses. If you want to file a wage claim against your employer, then you need to fill out several forms. First, you will have to fill Form 1 and then submit it to the DLSE office. In this form, you will be asked about your current employer, your work hours and the reason behind filing the claim. Depending on the reason, you may have to file several other forms like:

i) In case you are filing a claim due to unreasonable work schedule, then you need to fill form No 55.

ii) If your employer has failed to pay you commission, then you need to fill Form 155.

Filling these forms can be quite tricky. If you make any mistakes, then your claim may get rejected. Hence, it is advisable to ask a lawyer to review your forms. United Employees Law Group can help you out in this regard.

Documents required: Along with the form, DLSE may also ask you to submit some documents like:

1. Time records: They may ask you to submit some proof showing the number of hours and days you have worked over there. In case your office maintains a journal, then you can submit a copy of it as proof.

2. Payslips: You may also have to submit payslips to show how much wage you were getting paid. For cases related to unpaid wages, they are very important.

3. Bounced check: In case checks from your employer have bounced, then you need to submit a copy of those checks.

4. Notice of Employment: You may also have to submit the notice of employment, where your name, wage rate and address are mentioned.

The DLSE will also ask your employer to send all these documents. Hence, even if you have lost them, you don’t have to worry.

Time Limit: In case of most violations like failure to pay minimum wage or overtime, you have to file the claim within 3 years of the date of violation. However, it is advisable to file the claim as soon as possible. This way, it will be easier for you to get hold of all the latest documents.

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/Billion Photos

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