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.

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Any employee working in the US, including those in the state of California, might find themselves in the situation where they desire to file a wage claim. If this does occur, it is important to understand all the legal and technical information relevant to this process.

Here is the breakdown of the key facts about filing a wage claim.

What does a Wage Claim Represent?

A current employee or an employee that is no longer in the employment of a particular individual or organization might file a claim on an individual basis for a range of reasons. These include wages that have not been played out, including, bonuses, overtime or commissions.

A wage claim can also relate to wages that have been played by checks that were proven to have insufficient funds, lack of final paycheck before the employment ended, unused hours of vacation that have not been paid once the employment was terminated, and deduction from paychecks that have not been authorized.

A wage claim can also focus on business expenses that have not been reimbursed, failure of the employer to provide rest periods or meals or even waiting time penalties that have accumulated because of unpaid wages.

In these and other similar eventualities, an employee has the legal means of getting the funds that belong to them through a wage claim.

How to File a Wage Claim?

For the process of the filing of the claim to begin, an employee first needs the DLSE Form 1 of the Initial Report or Claim. This form is also accompanied by additional information sheets that are designed to assist the same claimant.

Along with these forms, an employee can also assess a special set of instructions which explains in detail which forms and documents need to be submitted so that the wage claim can be processed.

All of the said forms and instructional documents can be found on official government websites and from there, they can be downloaded, completed and then printed out before being sent.

Where Should a Wage Claim Be Filed?

The wage claim, once it is completed and accompanied by all necessary documents, should be sent by mail or delivered in person to the office of the Labor Commissioner for the particular region, city or community. A listing of all the offices can be found on the same government websites and from there the closest one can be chosen.

Once the claim is filed, an employee can check their status by calling the office, or by sending an email with the same inquiry. Once the claim is fully processed the same matter of wages can be finally settled.

With this information on how to file a claim, any employee in California should be able to make sure that their wages are paid out in full..

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Your employer failed to pay your wages in full? In case you are entitled to claim wages from United Employee Law Group (UELG). UELG organizes administrative hearing and will decide whether your employer is legally evaded payment.

This article will be useful for those who want to know how to prepare for a hearing.

Gather The Documents

To start, you need to collect all the key documents that can prove your rightness. These include the following documents:

Documents that show your work schedule and work hours.

Payment checks. Any checks or payments that you have received from your employer.

Documents obtained from your employer. All the documents that you received from your employer while working, such as letters, employment contract or other.

Correspondence of you and your employer. All e-mails, messages on social networks, or other written communications that have relation to your payroll.

Request Your Staff Records

You should also request your worker file and pay sheet records from your hirer as soon as possible. Under California law, your hirer is required to let you check your staff file within 30 days of a request. You can also give a written request for your hirer to mail you a copy of your staff file.

Participate in the settlement conference

In the majority of cases, you will need to be present in a settlement conference before the actual payroll hearing. The settlement conference is an unofficial meeting that happens with you, your hirer, and the deputy labor commissary at the UELG office. The conference can start with all of your session in one room to discuss debatable issues. The work commissioner will put you and your hirer on separate premises, and go back and forth to debate issues and offers to communicate the settlement.

The settlement conference is not an evidentiary hearing, so you do not need to bring any eyewitnesses to testify. However, you have to bring copies of any documents that you have in aid of your claim. You should also be ready with the idea of how much you are authorized under the law.

Be Present In The Court

If you and your hirer can not reach an agreement at a settlement conference, your occasion will be appointed for court hearings. The hearings will take place at the UELG offices, at the office in the labor force of the Commissioner. Though the installation might seem unofficial, the appointment will be recorded and visitors will witness under oath.

The hearing, as a rule, starts with an introducing statement from the Commissioner. After this, you will have the chance to present your occasion. Labor Commissioner can also ask you problems, throughout this time, to make things clear. You must bring in three sets of all your papers (including originals). After you finish submitting your evidence, your hirer will have the opportunity to present his defense.

Your hirer may send documents or bring witnesses to provide evidence, such as an observer who set your hourly amount of pay. You will have a chance to question these witnesses too, so come with a pre-written scroll of questions.

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If you’ve got an employer who has failed to pay your wage, refused to offer you rest breaks or meal breaks or violated any other wage law, you should consider filing a wage claim. However, before filing a wage claim, it is important that you ensure that you are informed about this subject of interest. Basically, researching about how to file a wage claim is one important factor you must adhere to if you want your employer not to violate your rights pertaining wage payment. This write- up will offer several factors that you need to know if your rights are being violated and thus you want to file a wage claim.

Reasons that Can Make you File a Wage Claim

An employee can file a personal wage claim in order to recover the following;

* Unpaid wages including bonuses, commissions and overtime.

* Not receiving a final pay- check

* Non- reimbursed business expenses.

* Liquidated damages as a result of not receiving minimum wage for the hours worked.

* Unauthorized deductions from paychecks.

How to File a Wage Claim

In the US, You are qualified to file a claim should your employer violate any state or federal law regarding your wages or work hours. For you to file a claim, you will be required to complete an Initial Claim or Report form and file it with DLSE i.e. Department of Labor Standards Enforcement. Generally, the form will require you to fill in information about you, your employer, your work schedule as well as what penalties or wages you’ re claiming,

Depending on the type of penalties or wages you’ re claiming, you may be required also to fill out other supplemental forms including:

^ DLSE Form 55 incase you’ re having varying or irregular work hours

^ DLSE Form 155 in case you’ re claiming unpaid commissions

^ DLSE Vacation Payment Schedule if you’re claiming unpaid vacation

You can either file the forms in person or by mail and send them to any local based DLSE office’s website.

Documents you Should Have for you to Qualify to File a Wage Claim

#1: Time Records:-

This involves copies you kept showing how many hours or days you worked.

#2: Pay stubs:-

This involves a copy of pay stubs you’ve received during the duration of time you’re claiming unpaid wages.

#3: Bounced Checks:-

These are copies of checks you received from your employer that bounced as a result of insufficient funds.

Last, but not least, this information is only a little of what you require knowing before filing a wage claim. Ensure that you click https://www.california-labor-law-attorney.com/ if you want to be informed more about filing a wage claim.

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Wage Claims

Deductions from wages are prohibited by law unless the worker specifically authorizes it in writing in advance under the S13 Employment Rights Act 1996. This is so even if the money is owed to the employer by the worker.

It sometimes happens that a worker is dismissed but fails to return equipment or perhaps safety clothing which the employer has paid for or supplied. In this situation, the employer is still not entitled to deduct the value of the items from the final wages payment without written agreement from the employee.

In other words, the employer is not entitled to take the law into his own hands.

The employer is of course entitled to recover money which is due to him, but it cannot be recovered by deductions from the worker’s wages without the worker’s agreement.

Under The Act “wages” simply means “any sums payable to the worker by his employer in connection with his employment”. This includes any fee, bonus, commission or holiday pay, whether payable under the worker’s contract or otherwise.
Despite the fact that an employer has no work available, he or she is still obligated to continue to pay employees who are willing to work.

Employees should also receive pay if they are sick or away on parental leave. This pay, though, may be less than normal depending on the contract. By law, most employees are entitled to the legal minimum statutory sick pay.

There are a number of circumstances where an employer can make deductions from an employee’s pay.

* Deductions for tax and national insurance are legal requirements.

* Furthermore, a clause in the employment contract can allow for deductions that cover union dues or

* payments to a pension scheme.

Other deductions will have to be agreed in writing before they are carried out. If an employer decides a deduction should be made, he or she must write to the employee giving details of the deduction. The deduction should be made within 12 months of the discovery of the shortage.

If a worker believes that their employer has made an unlawful deduction of wages, the first thing to do is to raise the issue with the employer. The worker should say when the deduction took place, and that there was no written agreement for the deduction to take place.

If the employer refuses to repay the money in question, then it may be possible to present a complaint to an Employment Tribunal.

There is a time limit for the case to be presented of 3 months from the date of the disputed wage payment. This limit can be extended if the tribunal considers that it was not practicable to present the claim within the 3 month period.

The tribunal can order the employer to repay money taken unlawfully from a worker. There is no cash limit on the amount that the tribunal can order to be repaid.
Many times we see the labors or employees being treated badly, harassed or mis conducted by the big companies or individuals. There is lot of instances when the employers exploit the employees by asking them to work overtime and then do not pay for that extra time or the labors of different races being treated differently in terms of pay or behavior. There are also cases when employees are being wrong fully terminated from their job without any reason. Further employees are harassed by the people who are in top positions.

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