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Employment Lawyers Sherman Oaks, California
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Harris & Kaufman Can Help |
Harris & Kaufman law firm is based in Sherman
Oaks and serves greater Los Angeles, Orange County, and Ventura
County, in Southern California. We are dedicated to representing
employees in disputes against their employers. We represent employees
and workers in labor and employment disputes such as:
- Overtime pay
- Vacation pay
- Commissions and wages
- Tips and tip pooling
- Sexual harassment
- Rest and meal period cases
- Unlawful termination
- Workplace discrimination
- Disability discrimination
- Professional Exemptions Overtime Law
Call us if you need an attorney who can assist you if you believe
that your employer has broken the California Labor Laws. We are
experienced and have had numerous trials, arbitrations, and appeals
and have litigated on behalf of thousands of employees.
Harris & Kaufman has represented workers in state and federal court and in administrative proceedings before the California Labor Commissioner. Determined and aggressive, our cases include individual disputes and class action lawsuits.
We can assist you with a wide variety of workplace disputes to do with the California pay laws. We are aggressive and experienced lawyers and can help enforce your rights under California state law or state regulations. Based in Sherman Oaks, California we serve greater Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County, and have cases statewide.
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Overtime Pay Information
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Overtime pay is additional compensation for working over 40 hours a week, and in California, over 8 hours in a day. Whether someone should receive overtime pay depends on the work that they do, but these general rules apply to all employees:
- The overtime laws are designed to protect employees, and the courts construe them to give employees the maximum protection. Employees are presumed to be entitled to overtime pay, and, under California and federal law, the employer, not the employee, has the burden of proof to show that it properly paid the employee.
- An employee's right to overtime pay does not depend on whether an employee is salaried. Many salaried employees are entitled to overtime pay.
- Work activities, not job titles and responsibilities, govern whether you are entitled to overtime pay. In California, the law looks to what employees do over half their work time. While employers sometimes give employees untrue job titles for the purpose of avoiding overtime pay, this does not affect employees' overtime rights.
An employer must pay overtime pay unless it can prove that an employee is "exempt" from the overtime requirements. "Exempt" employees do not get overtime pay. The exemptions are briefly listed as follows.
The California lawyers of Harris & Kaufman represent employees and workers in overtime pay cases in Los Angeles, Ventura County and Orange County areas, and elsewhere in the state of California. We represent plaintiffs in individual and class action lawsuits regarding overtime and vacation pay. Our law firm offers you the necessary experience and knowledge that complex litigation requires.
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California Vacation Pay and Federal ERISA Laws
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When a worker leaves his or her employment, all vested vacation pay must be paid out at the final rate of pay in accordance with the employer's vacation policies. Along these same lines, an employer cannot have a "use-it-or-lose-it" policy under which an employee forfeits accrued vacation time if not used by an anniversary date. On the other hand, an employer can cap or limit the amount of vacation time accrued.
Some employers can skirt the strict California law on vacations by establishing a funded vacation plan under the federal ERISA laws. However, some of these employers do not have vacation plans that comport with the requirements of ERISA, and therefore they are in blatant violation of California law. Obviously, an employee would need the assistance of an attorney to determine the official ERISA status of an employer.
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Collecting Commission Wages |
Commissions arise from the sale of a product or service but not the making of a product or the rendering of a service. In order to be a commission, the compensation must be a percentage of the price of the product or service sold. The person receiving the commission must be "principally" involved in selling the goods or the services from which the commission arises. Commission plans which refer to a percentage of a business, such as the cost of the goods sold by the business, does not constitute a commission wage.
Commissions arise out of agreements between the employer and employee
and are not required by any law. How they are computed also is
determined by the agreement, but deductions against commissions
are limited by labor law. Read more on collecting
commission wages.
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Tips & Tip Pooling |
A tip is money a customer leaves for an employee over the amount due for the goods sold or services rendered. Tips belong to the employee, not to the employer. If a customer tips on a credit card, the tip must be paid to the employee no later than the next regular payday following the date the patron authorized the credit card payment. Employers can not take any credit card processing fees from the tips. Read more on tip pools ...
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Sexual Harassment Labor Lawyer in California |
Harris & Kaufman represents employees in sexual harassment
and discrimination lawsuits as well. No employee, male or female
should tolerate unwelcome offensive gestures, remarks or undesired
sexual advances on the job. Let our aggressive sexual harassment
lawyers help you fight back against these workplace abuses. Read
more on sexual harassment in the workplace.
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Expertise in California Labor Laws |
Harris & Kaufman's clients are employees in the service, entertainment, retail and manufacturing industries. Our cases involve recovering for illegal "use it or lose it" vacation pay practices, "exempt" and "non-exempt" employee
status sexual harassment and discrimination, and independent contractor
status. Some employers try to avoid overtime payments by paying
overtime within a fixed salary, as a bonus or by paying one lump
sum for overtime no matter how many overtime hours are worked.
Wrongful Termination, Discrimination, Retaliation
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Harris & Kaufman labor lawyers represents employees in wrongful termination cases. If you have been discriminated against, been the victim of employer retaliation when pursuing wages owed to you, or if your employer has breached an employment contract, contact Harris & Kaufman
to discuss the nature of your claim.
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Arbitration Lawyers
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Unfortunately, in California, an employer can require its employees to agree to arbitration as a term of employment. There are some protections. If an agreement has too many unfair or one sided terms, California courts may refuse to enforce the arbitration agreement or sever the unfair terms.
Do not ignore these agreements if you have a dispute with your employer. Many people think that these agreements can be ignored or that it is some paperwork to cover a legal formality. In California, if you ignore the arbitration agreement, at some point a court may find you in breach of the arbitration agreement. In that case, you will not be able to proceed with an arbitration or in court, and you will not be able to get any remedy for your dispute no matter how good your case is.
Arbitration is a very tricky area because the law is still developing. You should consult a knowledgeable California arbitration attorney before to trying to resolve any dispute where you have an arbitration agreement.
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Harris & Kaufman - Sherman
Oaks Employment Attorneys Can Help You.
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WILLIAM E. HARRIS practices law in the areas of employment and tort litigation. He presently practices in the areas of wrongful termination and wage and hour disputes, both on an individual and class action basis. In his 25 years as a practicing lawyer, he has litigated cases in a variety of contexts, including tort and personnel injury, including more complex cases such as products liability and dangerous road conditions.
MATTHEW A. KAUFMAN represents employees in the areas of wrongful termination, wage and hour disputes, and entertainment issues. He is admitted to practice law in all the state courts of California and the United States District Court, Central District of California. He has handled trials, appeals, and labor board hearings. Through his class action work, Matthew has received extensive experience in pre-trial procedure.
We can assist you with a wide variety of workplace disputes to do with the California Labor Laws. We are aggressive and experienced lawyers and can help enforce your rights under California state law or state regulations. Harris & Kaufman law offices are located in Sherman Oaks, California. We serve greater Los Angeles, Orange County, Ventura County and have cases statewide.
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