Despite California’s reputation for having strong, worker-friendly wage and hour laws, employees still experience wage and hour-related violations frequently. According to a 2024 worker survey, 41% of California hourly service workers experienced at least one serious wage-and-hour violation. These violations can cost the average worker thousands of dollars every year.
If your employer violated wage-and-hour laws, you may be entitled to unpaid wages, penalties for missed breaks, late wage penalties, or other compensation under California law. Without an experienced wage-and-hour attorney advocating on your behalf, your employer may delay paying out lawfully owed compensation or avoid it entirely.
If you have been paid less than minimum wage, been denied meal or rest breaks, or have been made to wait for final paychecks, you may have experienced wage and hour labor violations. Learn more about rights under California employment law and consult with our wage-and-hour attorneys to discuss your legal options.
Wage theft is used to describe a number of wage and hour violations that workers may experience, including:
Employees in certain sectors of work may experience wage theft at higher rates. Vulnerability to wage-and-hour violations has negative consequences for the workforce. Workers at greater risk of wage theft are also more likely to live in poverty, rely on public assistance and struggle to cover living expenses.
A Rutgers University study from May 2024 found that California workers in these industries were more likely to be paid below the minimum wage:
However, no one is immune to wage theft. Workers across all sectors may experience pay violations when their employers fail to follow – or deliberately violate – California’s wage-and-hour laws.
Wage-and-hour legal claims can be difficult for a worker to handle alone. The laws are complex, employers can exploit loopholes, and many workers go without receiving the compensation owed to them.
Our wage-and-hour law attorneys can offer a free review your work history, pay stubs and other documents to identify whether you have been underpaid and help you build your case against your employer.
You do not have to pay for any of our services upfront. Our wage-and-hour attorneys work on a contingency fee basis, which means we only win if you win your case and your employer would have to cover our attorneys’ fees and costs.
Answers to common questions California employees have about wage and hour rights, violations, and legal options.
Currently, California’ statewide minimum wage is $16.90 per hour. However, some cities and counties have adopted higher local minimum wages, which can range from the high-$17 range to over $20 per hour in places like West Hollywood. When a local minimum wage is higher than the state minimum wage, employees are entitled to the higher payment.
Certain industries are subject to separate minimum wage laws. For example, fast food restaurant employees must be paid at least $20 per hour, and some health care workers are entitled to higher wages depending on the type of facility.
Employees classified as exempt must meet a separate salary requirement. In California, exempt employees must earn a minimum salary equal to at least twice the state’s minimum wage for full time work. Based on the current minimum wage, an exempt employee is entitled to at least $70,304 a year, or $1,352 per week.
In general, non-exempt employees are not allowed to work more than eight hours a day or more than 40 hours per week without receiving overtime pay according to California law.
If an employee works overtime, the employee must be paid one and one half times their regular pay rate for each overtime hour worked, and double their regular pay rate for all hours worked past the 12th hour of a workday or past the eighth hour on the seventh consecutive working day. See our overtime page for more information.
Non-exempt employees working more than five hours per day are entitled to an unpaid, off-duty meal period of at least thirty minutes. For every four hours worked, or “major fraction” thereof, non-exempt employees are entitled to a paid, 10-minute rest break. These rest breaks must occur in the middle of each four-hour work period. The courts consider a “major fraction” to be anything more than two hours. Most workplaces meet these rest break requirements by allowing a break every two hours.
If an employee is working more than 10 hours, they are entitled to a second meal break no later than the 10th hour of work. This meal break can only be waived if the work day is less than 12 hours, a first meal break was provided and the employee and employer mutually agree to waive the second meal break.
Exempt employees are entitled to take a 30-minute meal break if they work more than five hours in a day. However, exempt employees can take their meal break at any time of their workday or waive it if they choose.
On-duty meal breaks for non-exempt employees are only allowed in a limited number of situations.
If your employer failed to provide you with a meal break, they owe you an hour’s worth of your regular pay. If they do not give you (or they interrupt) your rest break, they owe you an hour of regular pay.
Employers are legally required to pay you for any training mandatory for your job. However, you are not required to be paid for optional training. Any cross-training done during normal work hours or overtime hours are subject to regular work hours and overtime hour wage laws.
Mandatory meetings must be paid by your employer. An employer may try to avoid payment by labeling a meeting as “voluntary.” However, if meeting attendance affects your job, requires you to perform productive work or has some basic expectation that you participate, you must be paid for your time.
Employers may require certain employees, such as healthcare staff, security guards or firefighters, to remain “on-call” or on “stand by.” While this time is not spent performing job duties, the employee has to be ready to work at any moment and cannot use their time to do other things. These on-call hours must be at least minimum wage, but do not have to equal the employee’s usual pay rate.
Wage-and-hour claim deadlines depend on the type of claim you are making against your employer. Whichever claim you are making, it is best to contact a wage-and-hour attorney as soon as possible to understand what violation your employer has committed and what evidence to gather for your claim.
The Labor Commissioner’s Office provides the following deadlines for wage-and-hour claims:
| Wage-and-Hour Claim Type | Time Limit |
| Bounced paychecks | 1 year |
| Failure to provide copies of payroll or personnel records | 1 year |
| Failure to fulfill oral promise to pay more than minimum wage | 2 years |
| Paying less than minimum wage | 3 years |
| Violations of overtime pay laws | 3 years |
| Certain meal and rest break violations | 3 years |
| Violations around sick leave | 3 years |
| Unpaid reimbursements | 3 years |
| Illegal deductions from your paycheck | 3 years |
| Breaking a written contract | 4 years |
If you’ve experienced wage theft, meal and rest break violations, unpaid reimbursements, or any other wage-and-hour violation from your employer, our attorneys can provide you with a free case review. Simply complete our consultation form and tell us about your situation. Our wage-and-hour attorneys will respond to your inquiry within the next few business days.