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Wage and Hour Violations
Redwood City, California Lawyer Fighting for Ordinary People
The laws about the wages and hours are very specific. You must be paid time-and-a-half for any overtime and must get proper rest and meal breaks, provided you are an employee of a non-exempt class. If you do not get what you are owed, you can sue.
At the Law Offices of Michael E. Adams, our lawyer can help you get compensation for lost wages, pain and suffering, and other consequences of your mistreatment. Michael Adams offers free phone consultations to anyone in the California Bay Area, including San Jose, Fremont, Sunnyvale, and other areas in San Mateo County, Alameda County, and Santa Clara County. Contact us right away.
Overtime Law
The general rule is that non-exempt employees shall not work more than 8 hours in one day or 40 hours in one week unless they are paid overtime. For example if you work 11 hours in one day, you must be paid overtime for the three hours which exceed eight hours. Provided that you are a nonexempt employee, you must get time-and-a-half for those overtime hours. To look at detailed information about California's wage and overtime laws, you can visit the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
The key to overtime cases is whether or not you are exempt from the labor code. Exempt employees work in professional, managerial, or supervisory positions, are paid regular salaries, and are not entitled to extra overtime pay. Non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime, and include people working in factories, service positions, retail, clerical positions, etc. If you are an hourly employee, you are almost assuredly non-exempt.
Many employers abuse the exempt qualifications, saying that people are exempt when they actually are not. Sometimes people get fancy supervisory titles when they are actually only doing clerical work, and are actually entitled to overtime pay. Our lawyer can handle disputes involving either refusal to pay overtime, misclassifying employees as exempt, or a combination of the two.
Rest and Meal Breaks
Most employees are entitled to a half-hour lunch break during every 8-hour shift, along with two 15-minute rest breaks. If you are not allowed to take breaks, you should speak with an attorney.
These cases rest on how much employer coercion is involved. Some people might not want breaks and are happy to not get them. Your employer's duty is to make it clear that breaks are being offered and that you are expected to take them. An isolated incident might not make for a good case, but if the general policy seems to be pressuring employees to deny breaks, you and your co-workers may have a claim.
Contact Us
Contact us to speak with an experienced attorney about any wage and hour issues. For your convenience, evening and weekend office hours may be arranged. Fee arrangements are either on a contingency, hybrid, or hourly basis.
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