Wage & Hour Violations Attorney in Sacramento
Helping Clients Get Paid for What They’re Owed
Wage and hour laws exist at the state and federal level to ensure that
people are properly and fairly compensated for their labor. Despite these
protections, unscrupulous employers engage in shady wage practices to
cut down on costs and hope their employees will be none the wiser. If
you think your employer has ever shortchanged you or failed to pay you
at all, seek legal assistance to recover what you’re owed.
The
Law Office of Jeffrey D. Fulton has more than
20 years of experience helping employees recover unpaid wages they were rightfully owed. Employers
that paid employees anything less than what they earned can be held liable
for wage theft, and employees can seek fair and just compensation for
this treatment. Rest assured that when you choose our wage and hour violations
attorney in Sacramento to represent your side in a dispute, we’ll
aggressively pursue your employer for payment of wages plus any other
applicable monetary damages.
Schedule a free case evaluation with the Law Office of Jeffrey D. Fulton
today by calling
(916) 318-3388 or by filling out our
online contact form.
What Is Wage Theft?
Wage theft and violations of wage and hours laws are one and the same.
When your employer takes deliberate action to pay you less than what you’re
really owed, they have effectively stolen your wages in violation of wage
and hour laws.
Overtime Violations
Violations of overtime laws are among the most common claims in this area of
employment law. The Fair Labor Standards Act provides that employees not exempted from
overtime be paid 1.5 times their standard pay when they work any hour
in excess of 40 per workweek. In California, overtime is awarded for any
time worked in excess of eight hours per day in a workweek.
Employers may violate overtime laws by paying the employee’s standard
rate for all hours or failing to compensate for overtime hours at all.
They may also try to skirt overtime laws by misclassifying their employees.
Employee Misclassification
Another common violation, employers misclassify their employees to avoid
paying overtime wages and certain kinds of taxes, such as the payroll tax.
Exempt vs. Nonexempt
Typically, wage earners and those who work “on the clock” are
considered nonexempt employees because they are not exempted from any
overtime laws. When these employees work in excess of eight hours per
day in California, they are entitled to overtime pay. This contrasts with
exempt employees who aren’t typically paid overtime because they’re
already highly compensated managers, executives, and professionals who
spend most of their time exercising independent judgment and making important
decisions for the company.
Employers like to elevate the job descriptions of certain employees to
make them seem like exempt positions when, in reality, they are not. If
they can get away with it, this means employers save on costs by skirting
overtime laws.
Independent Contractors
An independent contractor is someone who is not an employee but works for
a company as a consultant. Because these workers are not employees, companies
don’t have to pay them overtime wages or even certain taxes. This
combination makes purposeful misclassification of employees as independent
contractors all the more tantalizing to dishonest employers.
Under California’s ABC test, an independent contractor is a worker who:
- Is free from the employer’s control and direction with regard to
how they perform their work
- Performs work that is different from what the employer does as a business
- Is customarily engaging in an independently established trade, occupation,
or business that’s similar to the work done for the employer
There have been a lot of recent developments and lawsuits regarding employee
misclassification in California, so it’s best to consult with a
wage and hour violations lawyer in Sacramento if you believe you were
misclassified.
