There are many ways that businesses might take advantage of the people working for them. Sometimes, employers don’t follow safety rules and put employees in unnecessarily dangerous circumstances.
Other times, companies may violate wage laws in an effort to keep operating costs as low as possible. Wage violations enrich businesses at the expense of the employees working for them. There are many ways in which a company might inappropriately deny workers the pay that they deserve. The following are some of the most common forms of wage law violations in California.
Timesheet misrepresentation
Some companies manipulate timeclock records to avoid paying workers what they deserve. For example, a company might train workers to do certain work before clocking in to start a shift. Such efforts often mean that workers don’t full pay for all time work as they deserve under California law. Asking workers to clock in after completing certain tasks or clock out before they actually finish the shift can lead to misrepresentation of the time worked and an underpayment of hourly employees. Companies may also deny workers fair pay by asking them to be on-call or available for standby shifts without any pay.
Inappropriate overtime rules
California has more robust overtime regulations than the federal government. There are more scenarios in which workers may qualify for overtime pay. There are many companies that try to avoid those obligations by enforcing a no-overtime policy. Refusing to let workers put in excess time is perfectly legal, but denying them pay for time worked is not. Workers sometimes fail to assert themselves because they believe an employer who tells them their unauthorized overtime makes them ineligible for overtime pay.
Inadequate salaries
Both California and the federal government maintain minimum salary standards for overtime-exempt employees. If companies do not pay their workers enough, those workers are still potentially eligible for overtime wages despite their salary pay arrangements. The type of job someone works and the amount of overtime required of them can influence the salary rules that apply in California.
Timesheet misrepresentation and other manipulative company practices reduce staffing costs at the expense of the workers on payroll. Learning about wage statutes can help employees identify violations of their rights that may justify taking legal action against an employer. Pursuing a lawsuit can potentially minimize the economic damage inappropriate payroll practices have on employees.
