California Employment Lawyer Blog

Riverside wage violations are a growing problem, not only here but across the country.

These are issues like unpaid wages or illegal deductions or failing to pay the minimum wage or overtime.

San Bernardino Employment Attorney Houman Fakhimi understands that many times, employees simply let these things go, figuring it’s not worth it to go after them. But the truth of the matter is, this is a form of theft, and employers need to be held accountable for these actions.

One example, recently outlined by the McClatchy Newspapers’ service, was that of a home health care worker in Michigan. Her employer owed her $400 in pay, which it kept promising to pay in her next pay check. Months went by before the worker finally filed a complaint with state officials, who told her employer to either pay up or face a formal hearing. That worker is still waiting for her check.

Particularly for larger sums or instances in which the violations occurred over a period of time, it can be well worth your while to hire an experienced employment attorney in Riverside.

The fact of the matter is, more employers than ever are trying these tactics, seeing how far they can push the envelope to get away with it. The tanking economy is a big factor in all of this.

Companies all over the country are trying to cut costs and simply keep their heads above water. Couple that with the fact that fewer and fewer unions are in place to protect workers, as well as government budget cuts that result in fewer enforcement actions, and this is something that we’re likely to see rise exponentially in the next handful of months and years.

In fact, some two-thirds of low-income workers report experiencing some form of wage theft on a weekly basis. That’s according to a study three years ago involving some 4,500 low-wage workers in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.

Broken down a little more, that’s more than $50 per week, on average, per worker. That’s a huge blow for them individually, but it adds up to have a huge impact on our overall economy. A study recently just in Houston, TX alone discovered that workers lose more than $750 every single year due to wage theft.

Part of the problem for workers is that they may not realize what wage theft actually looks like. Sometimes, it’s blatantly failing to give you pay that you’ve earned. In other cases, it’s mislabeling you as an independent contractor, so that the company can avoid paying unemployment insurance on you. That also means that if you get laid off, you have no unemployment protection. For many people, especially those living paycheck to paycheck, that can mean the difference between losing their home or slipping into bankruptcy.

And often, if you have been hit with a wage theft or wage violation, others with the company have been as well. In the case of the Michigan home health care worker, the government had received three additional complaints from other workers.

In fact, the City of Los Angeles is among several that are actually considering additional laws that would help combat wage theft.
Continue Reading

Orange County wage disputes are a particular problem for those who either work for small companies or individuals.

Wage Dispute Attorney Houman Fakhimi understands that nanny’s or home health care employees often fall into this category. Although what they do is still work – any way you slice it – employers have a tendency to fall into a comfort zone with these individuals being “part of the family.” And in some ways, certainly, they are and that can be one rewarding aspect of these positions. The fact of the matter is, however, this is still a job, they are still paid employees and they deserve to be treated with the same considerations under state and federal labor laws.

That is the issue for the former nanny of A-list Actress Sharon Stone. The former employee is alleging religious and racial discrimination, as well as a wage dispute. A spokesman for Stone has called the allegations frivolous and absurd, but the outcome remains to be seen.

Here’s what we know of this case so far, as reported by The Los Angeles Times, which recently obtained the civil court filling:

The nanny was first employed by the actress initially to look after one of Stone’s three children in 2006. Then in 2008, the nanny was promoted to responsibility for caring for all three children. This included an extensive amount of travel, as well as living with the actress and her family.

She remained employed with Stone’s family through February of 2011.

During those years,the complaint alleges, Stone made frequent disparaging comments about her employee’s religious beliefs as a devout Christian, forbade her from reading the Bible in her home and criticized her for attending church.

Additionally, the woman said that Stone made her feel that her Filipino heritage was somehow offensive. One example that was given was that the nanny was reportedly instructed not to speak much around the children so that the kids would not pick up her speech patterns.

Ultimately, however, the nanny said she was fired in 2011 after Stone reportedly learned she had accepted the overtime she was owed. Stone’s staff reportedly paid the overtime – as required by state law – but Stone then alleged that the woman had “stolen” it and that acceptance of that money was “illegal.”

Of course, what’s important to note at this time is that we’re really getting only one side of the story. If all this is indeed true, the employment law violations are egregious.

A lot of times in cases involving celebrities, the stars will simply settle, not wanting to drum up additional publicity that would put them in a bad light.

What we’re really talking about in this case is discrimination and a wage dispute.

With regard to the discrimination, what may be difficult to prove in this regard is whether those allegations are true. Unless the nanny has some form of proof or other individuals who heard Stone say these things, it may end up being a situation of she-said-she-said. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, just that it can be more of a challenge for a labor law attorney to prove.

The case may actually hinge more on the issue of overtime.

California state law requires that non-exempt employees who are over the age of 18 are prohibited from working more than 8 hours a day or 40 hours in a week without overtime compensation. The law indicates that this compensation is to consist of the employee’s regular rate of pay, plus half that amount for each hour worked. If an employee works more than 12 hours in a single day, his or her pay rate is actually doubled.

If you think you may not have been paid the overtime you deserve, consult an experienced Orange County wage dispute attorney.
Continue Reading

In a case that could impact some current and future Santa Ana employment litigation suits, California’s Supreme Court has ordered that employers don’t have to make sure their workers take mandated lunch breaks.

Santa Ana Employment Lawyer Houman Fakhimi knows that for decades, state law has required employers to provide rest and meal breaks to workers. However, in 2001, California became one of the only states to hand down monetary penalties for companies that violate the meal and rest break laws. In fact, employers who break the law must pay affected employers one-hour’s wages for every half-hour break that was missed.

Federal law, meanwhile, doesn’t require a break.