What to Do When Not Being Paid for Work or Overtime

When you are not being paid for work performed or overtime wages, your employee rights are being violated. In California, wage theft occurs more often in particular industries: construction, health care, hospitality, restaurants, agriculture, garment manufacturing, janitorial, guard and security services.

Lawyers say that when you're not being paid for your work, the most important thing to do is document everything. Log all instances of being unpaid or underpaid wages with the date and time and work performed, as soon as they occur. The more evidence you can give to lawyers of instances of unpaid wages, the more compensation a lawyer will be able to get for you. If other employees are also cheated out of their wages, be sure to tell your attorney, as a class action lawsuit can be very strong.

Not being paid for work performed commonly violates one of these:

• All employees must be paid minimum wage, at the very least, regardless of immigration status (e.g. illegal or legal). At the time of this writing, minimum wage is $9.00 an hour in California. Minimum wage, in California, will increase to $10.00 an hour on January 1, 2016.
• Employers are required to pay their workers overtime when any time over 8 hours a day or 40 hours a week is performed at a rate of one and a half times the wage per hour for time worked over 8 hours a day and two times the wage per hour for time worked over 12 hours a day.
• Time spent traveling as part of a work activity must be paid and considered as hours worked, such as travel between job sites. Employers must also reimburse workers of expenses incurred during this time, such as payment of gas used or parking fees.
• Breaks required at the workplace must be paid. Employees should be allowed to leave the place of employment for rest and meal breaks. If the employee is not permitted to leave the workplace, during a break, the employer must pay for their time.
• Employees must be paid for work "suffered or permitted" even if the employer does not specifically authorize the work. If the employer knows or has good reason to believe that the employee is continuing to work then that time must be considered as time worked. This commonly occurs when the employee takes home work to perform and the manager knows the employee is taking work home or the employee is working past their normal working hours. Even though the time worked was unscheduled, the employee was "suffered and permitted" to work and the manager was aware of it.
• Workers required to remain on-call and their lives suffer because of it, such as by restriction of activities or geographic location, must be paid for the hours worked while on-call. In other words, if an employee's freedom was constrained  by being on-call, the employee must be paid for time worked at his regular wage per hour or overtime rate, if the hours worked on-call are calculated to fall in the range of overtime work.

Lawyers say there are many more ways workers can be cheated out of their wages or hours worked. Thus, it is always best to speak to an attorney with expertise in employment and civil rights laws, such as the lawyers from LibertyBell Law Group.

Wage theft occurs more to illegal aliens and undocumented immigrants because many do not know their civil and employee rights. Civil attorneys in California emphasize that everyone is entitled to receive at least minimum wage and be paid for all time worked and the employee's immigration status does not matter. The courts and judges do not care about the immigration status of an employee when a labor complaint or employment lawsuit has been filed. It is illegal for a business being sued or investigated for a labor complaint to bring up immigration status or report that issue to law enforcement or government agency.

Employment law lawyers from LibertyBell Law Group know how to protect your rights and get you the most compensation for the time you have worked and not been paid and damages suffered. Our lawyers in California have expertise in employment law, lawsuits and settlements. Most of the time, our attorneys are able to get clients the best settlements without even going to trial. Though, if necessary, our employment law lawyers will not hesitate to file a lawsuit to get you the compensation and justice you deserve.

If you believe you have not been paid for work you did, overtime or have had any of your employee rights violated, call LibertyBell Law Group attorneys now at 855-200-ATTY (855-200-2889).

LibertyBell Law Group attorneys have won many awards and are well-known for their expertise in civil law. The attorneys also have top client reviews as they are dedicated to giving clients the best legal representation. They are the Newsweek 2015 Legal Superstars.

Independent Contractor Jobs are a Hotbed for Wage & Hour Lawsuits

Independent contractor jobs are often misrepresented to job seekers by employers either in error or to sidestep taxes, and benefits and rights given to wage and hour employees. The ramifications of misclassifying employees in California are big as employers can be charged with a felony wage theft charge, face hefty fines, and or be sued by the worker in a lawsuit. In California, the illegal misclassification of workers is rampant in certain industries.

In California, independent contractor misclassification of jobs is common in these industries:

• Construction
• Garment Workers
• Restaurants
• Hospitality
• Janitorial Services
• Information Technology

Misclassifying workers and independent contractors carries serious consequences, aside from the possibility of being criminally charged and have to pay steep fines or a lawsuit settlement, the business would also have to pay attorney's fees for litigation if the case goes to trial. Litigation can make big holes in deep pockets and coupled with all the other consequences can devastate a business and even put a company out of business.

The risk of misleading job seekers into an independent contractor relationship when they are actually employees, as defined by state and federal laws, is very high. Some employers think that defining the independent contractor relationship in a contract with the signature of a new hire justifies and frees them from legal infractions, federal or state investigations, and lawsuits. However, this is a widely held misconception. The best civil lawyers in California know that it doesn't matter what a contract says if the contract is not compliant with state and federal laws. State and federal laws are always preeminent of anything that is stated in a contract.

The statute of limitations for an individual filing a lawsuit in California for being misclassified as an independent contractor ranges from 1-4 years. Many California lawyers will take wage and hour cases on contingency, though some may charge a small fee for an initial evaluation. Usually, these types of cases are more likely to be taken by an attorney if you worked overtime but were not paid, were not paid the minimum wage or for lost benefits. These lawsuits often contain many different threads of civil and employment law that are being disputed. Thus, the best civil attorneys for these types of lawsuits are those that have various expertise in civil and employment law.

If you are seeking an independent contractor job or are an employer who would like your independent contractor agreements reviewed or written, it is best to seek counsel from lawyers before entering into a contract. Without the counsel of an attorney you may be liable for particular items and or you may expose yourself to lawsuits and severe penalties unknowingly.

If you are an employee or employer who is experienced a dispute over labor and employment laws or would like advice on how to best protect yourself, talk to LibertyBell Law Group civil lawyers in California, who have expertise in these matters, and call 855-200-ATTY (855-200-2889).

Employment Lawyers Heed New Laws Affecting Los Angeles Businesses

Employment law lawyers in Los Angeles know that, more often than not, employers are unaware or simply do not know how a labor law applies to their business. Many small business owners are too busy running their business, managing their employees, and attending to customers and don't have time for anything else. However, it is vital for small business owners to have an on-call lawyer, at the very minimum. Workplace lawsuits in Los Angeles can be very costly, especially if the litigation involves discrimination, harassment, or wage and hour disputes.
There are a myriad of state and federal employment laws and recent court rulings that apply to all employers, but some apply to specific industry sectors or class of workers. It is vital for a business owner to ensure all employee manuals and relations, pay policies, and break periods are legally compliant and up to date.  The cost of preventing litigation is pennies compared to the cost of defense in a trial and possible fines and penalties.

Loss of an Employment Lawsuit Can Cost an Employer:

• Fines & Penalties
• Recovered Wages
• Cost of Your Attorneys' Fees
• Cost of Plaintiff's Attorneys' Fees
• Time and Stress
• Negative Publicity

Lawyers caution employers not keeping up to date on labor laws as being unaware of a new law cannot be used as a defense in court.

There are many new California and federal laws and court rulings affecting employers effective in 2015, say the Los Angeles civil lawyers from LibertyBell Law Group.

Some New 2015 Employment Laws:

• AB1522 - Employees are entitled to accrue paid sick days at no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked, but employers may limit the amount of sick days to three per year.
• AB2288 - Provides additional treble damages to an employee that was retaliated against because the individual filed a claim or civil lawsuit alleging a violation of employment laws while the employee was a minor, even if the claim or civil action was filed after the individual reached the age of 18.
• AB1443 - Prohibits discrimination and harassment to volunteers and unpaid interns, regardless of whether or not the position leads to employment.
• AB1897 - When an independent contractor works at the job-site of the employer and the independent contractor has a total of 6 non-exempt workers or more, the employer is jointly responsible for the wages of the independent contractor's workers and their workers' compensation insurance. 
• AB2053 - Employers must provide abusive conduct prevention training, in addition to sexual harassment training, to supervisors. The training must be provided within 6 months of the employee becoming a supervisor.

If you are an employer or business owner, save yourself from potential headaches and costly litigation and contact our employment lawyers in Los Angeles now and call 855-200-ATTY (855-200-2889).