Ca Labor Law :: Employee Dispute Representation

Harris & Kaufman law firm litigates cases for employees involving the California Labor Law including wage disputes, workplace harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination. The California Labor Law protects workers and employees from workplace sexual harassment, racial discrimination, and wrongful termination. Our lawyers are aggressive and experienced attorneys who represent plaintiffs in individual and class action lawsuits. Our labor lawyers can assist you when you believe that your employer has broken California labor law. We are California attorneys who specialize in litigation involving all aspects of employment regulations. Trust us to be your experienced and dedicated labor attorneys to help solve your problems at work.

California State Overtime Pay Labor Law

Our California lawyers can help you in a wage dispute to recover overtime pay, unpaid sales commissions, in tip pooling, if you've been improperly classified as an independent contract and in other violations of the California labor laws. These and other regulations exist to help ensure that you receive the pay you have rightfully earned. Harris & Kaufman can help ensure that you receive withheld pay and other allowances due you.

Employers face big penalties if they retaliate against employees who pursue their wages, overtime pay and other benefits. Employers cannot fire, demote or otherwise harass employees because they seek their fair wage. To protect employees, statutes provide for damages, injunctive relief ordering the employer to refrain from prohibited conduct and monitoring the employer's behavior, interest, attorneys' fees and costs.

Recover Vacation Pay Withheld by Your Employer

Harris & Kaufman can also assist you with recovering vacation pay. California Labor Laws state, it is illegal for employers to institute a "use it or lose it" provision regarding vacation time. An example would be if you accumulated 10 vacation days, and decided not to use them until next year. It is illegal for your employer to strip you of this vacation time without pay. The employer can cap accumulated vacation, and can control when and for how many days you take vacation. If an employers offers vacation benefits, the employer must follow state regulations. Harris & Kaufman has the experience to help you recover lost vacation pay.

California State Tip Labor Law

What are tips and when should they be paid? 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.

If I receive tips on the job, do I have to share them with my employer? California Labor Laws state employers cannot share in tips or tip pools of their employees. Sometimes a supervisor or owner of a business takes a percentage or a fee out of their employee's tips. Even though this is practiced in restaurants, hotels, and casinos, this is strictly prohibited.

As in all other wage cases, an employee can recover attorney's fees in an action to recover tips.

California Wrongful Termination & Unlawful Retaliation

Our attorneys can represent you before the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission. We also can help protect your rights if there is unlawful retaliation on the part of your co-workers or employer after you make a complaint. If your employer fires you or denies you benefits because of your complaint, then you have recourse to sue your employer. Harris & Kaufman offers experience with the California labor law and can defend you when your job becomes intolerable, or you are fired illegally.

Ca Sexual Harassment Laws

Employers have a duty to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Once a complaint of sexual harassment is made, an employer must undertake all reasonable steps to prevent it.

Sexual harassment is an extremely complex area of the law, and employees should consult with knowledgeable attorneys if they fee they are sexually harassed. A lawsuit on the basis of sexual harassment may likely require the filing of a claim with different state and federal administrative agencies. People who think they have been sexually harassed are strongly advised to seek legal assistance. As experienced labor attorneys, we can represent you in California state and U.S. District Court. California labor laws prohibit female and male sexual harassment.

California Labor Law :: We Litigate Disputes Over "Exempt" and "Non-exempt" Status

Many disputes stem from misuse of the employee classifications of "exempt" and "non-exempt." This classification also includes outside salespersons and managers. In California, managers who spend more than 50% of their time doing the same work as their employees are sometimes classified as exempt, when they should be non-exempt. Whether the employee is salaried makes no difference. That "manager" can recover for overtime pay earned but not paid. Harris & Kaufman recently prevailed in a class action case like this for employee "managers" of U-Haul.