How To File A Wage Claim?

California is very protective of employees. The state has enacted various laws that would enable an employee to get their well earned pay from unscrupulous employers by filing a wage claim.

Under California law, an employee may file for a wage claim for the following:

Unpaid wages including overtime, commissions and bonuses

Wages paid by check with insufficient funds

Non-receipt of final paycheck

Unauthorized deductions from wages and salaries

Non-reimbursement of business related expense

Failure to provide meal and rest periods

One of the most common wage claims is unpaid overtime wages.

Mostly, the issue stems from the misclassification of some employees to exempt when they should have been classified as non-exempt.

This is because employers are not required to pay exempt employees overtime.

The most common misconception is that the job title dictates whether an employee is considered exempt or non-exempt.
The truth about it is that exemptions are decided by the work the employee does for the company.
If the employee spends more than half of their time in the workplace in production, then they are considered non-exempt.

An employee may be considered exempt if he or she meets certain requirements.

Here are some of the most common overtime exemptions:

Executive exemption This refers to employees who spend most of their time managing the business. This includes executives and managers of the company.

Administrative exemption This refers to employees who spend most of their time performing administrative functions or performing duties that are in aid of the employer.

Professional exemption This refers to employees who need certain licenses to practice their profession. This includes lawyers, doctors, engineers, etc. This exemption also includes those who work in a learned or artistic profession.

Computer software professional exemption This refers to employees who work in the theoretical aspects of software development and are earning more than $41.

Outside salesperson exemption This refers to employees who are working outside the workplace creating sales for the company.

To file a wage claim, you can download a form from http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/HowToFileWageCLaim.htm with copies of your supporting documents.

Make sure that all important information is included and that you have signed and dated the claim form.

You can either mail or file the claim personally to an office of the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

The claim cannot be filed through email or by fax because an original signature is required.

The time period for filing a wage claim may depend from case-to-case.

If the claim is based on an oral agreement, then you have up to two years.

If the claim is based on a written agreement, then you have up to four years.

Wage claims for unpaid overtime and minimum wage can be filed within three years.

You should also consult an employment law attorney to give you all your options and advise you if you need to file a lawsuit against your employer as well.