Wage Theft: When Your Paycheck Comes Up Short

If your employer doesn't pay you everything you earned, that's wage theft. It's the most common crime against workers in California, and the law gives you real tools to get your money back, for free, without a lawyer.

What wage theft looks like

It's usually quiet, and it adds up:

• Working before you clock in or after you clock out
• Overtime paid at your regular rate, or not paid at all
• Meal or rest breaks you never really get
• A manager or owner taking a cut of your tips
• A final paycheck that comes late, short, or never
• Being labeled an "independent contractor" or "salaried" so the rules supposedly don't apply

The statewide rules almost every worker gets

• Pay for every hour. Paying below the minimum wage is illegal (Labor Code 1197), and you can recover every unpaid dollar plus interest (Labor Code 1194).
• Overtime. Time and a half after 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week, and for the first 8 hours on your seventh straight day in a workweek. Double time past 12 hours in a day and past 8 on that seventh day (Labor Code 510).
• Breaks. A 30-minute meal break if you work more than 5 hours, and a second one past 10 (Labor Code 512), plus paid 10-minute rest breaks set by the state Wage Orders. Each day you're denied a required break, your employer owes you one extra hour of pay (Labor Code 226.7).
• Your last check. Fired? All wages are due immediately (Labor Code 201). Quit with at least 72 hours' notice? Due on your last day; without notice, within 72 hours (Labor Code 202). If the company willfully stalls, your daily wage keeps adding up as a penalty for up to 30 days (Labor Code 203).
• An itemized pay stub. Every payday it must show hours, pay rates, gross and net pay, deductions, and the employer's real name and address (Labor Code 226). No stub at all is a warning sign.

The two labels used to dodge those rules

"You're an independent contractor." In California you are an employee unless the company proves all three parts of the ABC test: you work free of its control, you do work outside its usual business, and you run your own independent business of the same kind (Labor Code 2775). A 1099 form, a signed contract, or "everyone here is a contractor" proves nothing.

"You're salaried, so no overtime." A salary alone does not erase overtime. Exempt status requires the right kind of duties plus a salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work (Labor Code 515). A modest salary with a manager title usually does not qualify.

Your city may owe you more

This page covers statewide law, but many California cities and counties have their own higher minimum wages and their own ordinances on pay, scheduling, and sick leave. State law is the floor, not the ceiling, and paying under an applicable local minimum is just as illegal (Labor Code 1197). Never assume the state number is your number. Check your city and county: these rates adjust every year (many local rates on July 1, the state rate on January 1). Current state numbers are on the Labor Commissioner's minimum wage page.