California Wage and Hour Law

May 13th, 2009 Posted by Amelia

Employers who neglect to pay court-ordered restitution face hefty fines and penalties under both California and federal law.

 

In a recent California case involving Southern California Cleaning Service, a federal judge ordered the company to pay an additional penalty of $2,400 per day, for each day that the payment is delayed.

 

Even worse, the court also found the two owners of the company in contempt, and ordered them each to pay an additional $200 per day penalty. Further violations could result in them being jailed for contempt of court.

 

Both the fines will continue on a daily basis until the employees are paid in full.

 

In addition, the company was ordered to pay $227,701 in interest – 4.4% — on unpaid back wages of almost $3.5 million, plus $1 million in liquidated damages to workers.

 

The company’s troubles began in 2007 when the U.S. Department of Labor won a lawsuit against the southern California employer.

 

The judge in that case determined that had improperly classified nearly every employee as an . The company failed to pay the workers the minimum wage and as required under the federal , the .

 

“The Department of Labor will not hesitate to take action to ensure workers receive the compensation they have worked hard for and earned,” said new Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, in one of her first public comments on a case.  

 

Under federal law, when an employer dictates when, where or how an employee performs the job, the worker is an employee, not an independent contractor.

 

The company’s problems were compounded by the fact that the majority of the underpaid workers spoke only Spanish. This ruling sends a clear warning to employers who try to take advantage of non-English speaking employees.

 

As bad as this situation was, it could have been even worse for the employers. A California law prohibits independent contractor classification of workers who are engaged in the company’s primary business. For example, a messenger service cannot classify its messengers as independent contractors.  

 

In addition, Southern California Maid Services could face additional charges of illegal discrimination, since almost all of the improperly classified workers were Hispanic.

On August 21, 2007 the employer was ordered by the court to pay nearly $3.5 million in back wages plus $1 million in damages to the employees. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Labor learned that the employer had not paid any of the back wages or overtime, and took the employer to court again.

 

 The overwhelming

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2 Comments >> Posted in California,Employment Laws,Minimum Wage,Overtime,Wage and Hour
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  1. Posted by: Kristin

    Hello again,

    I have been researching exemption status and wage violations and I am certain that there are violations occuring at my workplace. I am not interested in filing a claim against my workplace. Do you have any suggestions as to the best method of bring my concerns to my boss. I have verbally talked to her and she said she would consult an attorney. This was a month ago and nothing has happened.

    Also, what are the laws pertaining to payment of overtime? Is it legal for payroll to be called in early w/o timecards then if overtime is missed to pay it on the next pay period? We get paid every 2 weeks and are in California.

  2. Posted by: Amelia

    Hi Kristin! Under California law, employees must be paid on payday for all hours worked, including overtime. So no, it is not lawful for the employer to phone in payroll early without timecards and not pay the employees earned overtime.

    As far as not wanting to file a wage complaint…that is a little like saying, “I want everyone to obey the speed limit at all times, but I don’t want anyone to get a speeding ticket if they don’t.” People tend to follow the law only if there are consequences for not doing so. If there are no consequences for your boss, then he or she will continue to pay you improperly. Why not, especially if they save money this way??

    We applaud your decision to keep this discussion tactful. Many employees hurt their cause by being rude. However, we suspect that your boss has no intention of consulting an attorney. She will simply come back and tell you that what she is doing is perfectly legal. These types of problems usually do not fix themselves. It may be helpful if you direct your employer to the website below. It may also be helpful to tell your employer that you would not want to file a complaint, but you do want to be paid properly.

    Filing a wage complaint with the California DLSE is not a big deal. (Suing the employer is a big deal.) Getting a call from the DLSE is the equivilant of getting a speeding ticket, in most cases. The DLSE investigates and the employer pays the employee the money they are owed. Often no fine is involved, if it was an honest mistake. Usually it is straightened out with one phone call. By law, the employer cannot retaliate against an employee who files a wage complaint in good faith.

    Your other option is to do nothing, and hope your boss wants to pay you differently in the future. HTH, and thanks for reading the blogs!~ Amelia

    Read more about this at: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/DLSE-FAQs.htm