March 21, 2023
Employees in California who have not received full payment for their hours are entitled to receive back pay. There are many different reasons why employees may be eligible to receive this payment.
# 1 Unpaid hours
Not paying the correct wages is more common than thought. Some employers even hide or lie to their employees to avoid making complete payments.
For example, you may be owed a late payment if your job requires you to wait for long periods of time to go through security or “backpack search” and enter the workplace; that is if the employer has not paid you for that waiting time. It is also possible that your employer simply did not pay you the correct rate for all your overtime.
For more information on this matter, see two of our previous posts.
# 2 Unfair termination
Wrongly terminated employees may receive back payments from the date they were released until their claim is resolved or a judgment is determined.
# 3 Not providing breaks to eat and rest
If you are a non-exempt employee in California, you are entitled to a 10 minute paid break for every 4 hours worked. If your employer does not authorize or allow a break, you are entitled to an additional full hour of pay for each workday that your employer did not provide you with a paid break.
Also, if you are a non-exempt employee in the state of California, you are entitled to a meal break of at least thirty minutes when you work more than five hours a day. You are entitled to this break before the end of your fifth hour of work. They must also provide a second meal break of at least 30 minutes if your work period extends beyond 10 hours.
If your employer has not given you adequate breaks, you may be entitled to significant back pay, especially if the violation has been going on for some time.
