Find A California Wage and Hour Attorney
An experienced California wage and hour attorney will determine if you’ve been treated unfairly by your employer, negotiate a settlement, and more.
Wage and hour law can get very complicated, very quickly.
It deals with all aspects of employment and being paid for your employment including overtime, minimum wage, travel time, training time, hour cuts, furloughs, wage garnishments, and more.
The biggest piece of legislation governing wage and hour law is the Fair Labor Standards Act. This law ensures that workers enjoy a number of rights. For the most part, the law is aimed at securing fair pay for the time that employees work on a day-to-day basis.
For example, one of the things covered by the Act is minimum wage. Each state is free to set its own minimum wage, but it cannot go below $7.25 an hour. In California, the minimum wage will be $8.00 until July 1, 2014, where it will rise to $9.00 an hour. Additionally, on January 1, 2016, the minimum wage in California will increase to $10.00 an hour. California law also mandates that employees who earn tips must be paid minimum wage under the law, which is unlike some other jurisdictions in the country.
Wage and Hour Law also addresses over-time. For example, in California, employees must receive overtime if they work more than 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Furthermore, if 12 hours in a day are exceeded by employees, they must be paid double-time. There are even more guidelines for other types of hourly combinations, making this area of wage and hour law complex.
Wage and hour laws come from the federal, state, and local government. While the Fair Labor Standards Act is the governing piece of legislation, California has its own state-mandated wage and hour laws. Additionally, some wage and hour laws differ by the municipality. Los Angeles is entitled to its own wage and hour law.
Why Would I Need an Employment Attorney? What is the Benefit?
Oftentimes, it is difficult to consider bringing a wage and hour lawsuit against your employer. You may be concerned about your employer retaliating against you for suggesting that they are not following the law when it comes to paying their employees. Additionally, you may have a hunch that your employer is not following the law, but you are not sure, and you may not want to cause a problem if there is no actual problem.
An employment law attorney trained in the area of wage and hour law can be just what you need to answer your questions and give you peace of mind. Wage and hour law is complex, especially when it comes to figuring out things such as time and a half, double time, the length of lunch and other breaks, and other things that may need the calculation skills of an experienced employment law attorney.
Furthermore, consulting with an employment law attorney about a potential wage and hour lawsuit will give you the ability to know that you are pursuing the right method of recourse against your employer. A California wage and hour law attorney will be able to tell you if you are entitled to more pay, more break time, or if you are being treated unfairly by your employer when it comes to wages and hours.
An employment law attorney will also have experienced handling these disputes both in the courtroom and in settlement negotiations. He or she will be able to help you pursue the best method of recovery and ensure that you receive the maximum damages possible to compensate for wages that were not properly paid.
The San Fernando Valley Bar Association Attorney Referral Service is dedicated to assisting you to find the best California wage and hour law attorney to meet your needs.
Contact us today at 818-340-4529 to schedule a consultation.