What You Need to Know About Unpaid Wages 

Generally speaking, employees must be compensated for their work and time. However, many employers require workers to perform work-related tasks off the clock and without pay. At Wilshire Law Firm, we'll fight to recover your unpaid wages, regardless of whether you earned them on or off the clock. We assist with private claims and class action lawsuits for unpaid wages. 

Legal Requirements for Rest & Meal Breaks 

Under California law, most employers must provide: 

• A 30-minute meal break within the first 5 hours of an employee's shift; 
• Two meal periods if an employee works 10 hours or more in a shift; 
• At least one 10-minute rest break if an employee works 3.5–6 hours; 
• At least two 10-minute rest breaks if an employee works 6–10 hours; 
• At least three 10-minute rest breaks if an employee work more than 10 hours. 

Meal and rest periods should generally be uninterrupted and off-duty. However, many employers require workers to take short, interrupted, or late breaks to boost their profits. If a meal or rest break is not provided or authorized in compliance with California law, employees can be entitled to an extra hour of pay for each non-compliant break (up to 1 hour per day for rest breaks and 1 hour per day for meal periods). We can help you recover wages that you are rightfully owed for non-compliant breaks. 

Employee Misclassification

Whether you are a contract employee, hourly employee, salaried employee, or independent contractor, you have the right to be compensated correctly under state and federal law. While some workers may be exempt from wage and hour protections, many employers deliberately misclassify their employees as exempt to reduce labor costs and increase profits. 

Types of employees that are frequently misclassified include, but are not limited to: 

• Administrative or admin workers
• Assistants
• Property managers
• Store managers
• Insurance adjusters
• Delivery Drivers

To qualify as an exempt employee, workers must: 

• Spend over half their time on intellectual, managerial, or creative work; 
• Earn a monthly salary equal to twice the state minimum wage for full-time employees; 
• Exercise creative freedom and independent judgment to perform their duties  

Even if you sign an agreement stating you are an exempt employee or earn a salary, you may be non-exempt, and thus able to file a wage and hour lawsuit.