Is Back Wages Not Paid a Civil Case?

When an employer violates California wage and hour laws, the employer may end up owing the employee for back pay and wages. Back pay and wages are the amounts the employee should have been paid if the employer had not violated state or federal labor laws. This can include interest of up to 10% per year.

If an employee is owed back pay and wages, he or she can recover back wages by filing a wage and hour lawsuit.

Below, our California labor and employment lawyers discuss the following frequently asked questions about lawsuits for unpaid wages for California employees:

• 1. What is back pay and when do employers owe for back wages?
• 2. How do I know if my employer owes me back pay and wages?
• 3. How long do I have to file an unpaid back wages lawsuit in California?
• 4. How much money am I owed in back pay, interest, and penalties?
• 5. How can I file a claim for back pay or unpaid wages in California?

Back pay and wages are the amounts the employee should have been paid if the employer had not violated state or federal laws.

1. What is back pay and when do employers owe for back wages?

Back pay is the amount of money owed to an employee for work completed but not paid by the employer. Back pay wages are similar to unpaid wages in California; however, back payment of wages is often money calculated after the employer is determined to have violated some wage or hour laws.

For example, if an employer improperly calculates the employee's paycheck, the employee may have been underpaid for past work. The employee may notice the problem or the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) may recalculate the amount and notify the employee that he or she is owed back pay.

Back pay and back wages in California are generally related to wage and hour law violations that under-calculate the amount of money owed to the employee. This may involve the following types of violations:

• Minimum wage violations,
• Overtime pay violations (such as unpaid overtime),
• Unpaid meal and rest breaks,
• Unpaid final wages,
• Unpaid sick leave,
• Exempt misclassification,
• "Off the clock" work,
• Illegal payroll deductions, or
• Unpaid reimbursements.

2. How do I know if my employer owes me back pay and wages?

Most employees are notified of back pay and wages after a California DLSE investigation. The agency may send out a notice telling the employee they are owed back pay and wages for some employer state or federal FLSA wage violation.

However, the DLSE does not catch all wage and hourly rate violations. It may be up to the employee to calculate how much they are owed in a pay period and compare that to the amount they are paid.

California law provides a number of minimum wage and hour protections for non-exempt employees in California. This includes:

• Minimum wage,¹
• Overtime (whether permitted or not),^{2 3}
• Lunch breaks,⁴ and
• Off-the-clock restrictions.⁵

The California Department of Industrial Relations makes the following recommendations to make sure you are paid your full wages and to support your case when filing a claim:

• Track the number of hours worked: write down the time you begin and end work every day, total hours worked, and when you take meal or rest breaks.
• Keep all pay stubs: itemized wage statements must contain certain information, including wages earned, deductions, and dates of the pay period.

In addition to the back pay and wages, the DLSE may also add interest to the unpaid wages. Interest on back pay is limited to 10% per year.

Workers in California may sue their employer for back pay.

3. How long do I have to file an unpaid back wages lawsuit in California?

The amount of time to file an unpaid back wages lawsuit in California depends on the type of claim. The time limit, also called the "statute of limitations," for most California wage and hour violations must be filed within three (3) years from the date of the most recent violation.⁶

Back pay violations that are based on breach of contract claims must be filed within 2 or 4 years.

• If the unpaid wage claim is based on an oral agreement (no written contract), the claim must be filed within two (2) years.
• If the unpaid wage claim is based on a written agreement, the claim must be filed within four (4) years.

It is important to file the claim in time or your claim may be denied. Talk to a California wage and hour lawsuit attorney as soon as possible to make sure your claim is filed in time so you can get the full compensation you are owed.

4. How much money am I owed in back pay, interest, and penalties?

The amount of money owed for back pay and back wages may depend on the type of violation and the actions of the employer. If the back pay was the result of a mistake with no intentional wrongdoing, back pay may include:

• The unpaid wages from the miscalculation, and
• Interest on the unpaid wages (up to 10% per year).

If the back pay or unpaid wages were the results of labor code violations, the employer may also owe damages and penalties for the violations. Back payment for labor violations may include:

• The unpaid wages from the miscalculation,
• Interest on the unpaid wages (up to 10% per year),
• If the employer did not give mandatory meal breaks or rest breaks, you may be eligible for one hour's wages for each missed break,⁷ and
• Reasonable attorney's fees and court costs.⁸

If the violations were the result of intentional underpayment or were not due to a good-faith error, you may be eligible for double damages.⁹

5. How can I file a claim for back pay or unpaid wages in California?

If you are owed back pay or unpaid wages in California, you can file a lawsuit to recover the amount owed, including interest and any penalties. Talk to your California wage and hour law lawyer about your case and how to make your employer pay for the work you were never compensated for.

If you are worried that you cannot afford to hire an attorney, many California employment lawyers represent employees based on contingency agreements. This means the lawyer will not get paid until you do.

Remember, California wage and hour laws require employers to pay employees' attorney's fees in successful unpaid wage lawsuits, which means this fee this will not reduce your total recovery.

If an employer is violating wage and hour laws for one employee, they may be doing it to multiple employees. This may mean your case can become part of a class action lawsuit on behalf of a large number of employees.

Call our law firm for legal advice. We offer free consultations.

For questions about California wage and hour laws, unpaid back payment, or to discuss your case confidentially with one of our skilled California labor and employment attorneys, do not hesitate to contact us at Shouse Law Group.

We create attorney-client relationships and have local employment law offices throughout the state of California, including Los Angeles, San Diego, Orange County, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, San Jose, Oakland, the San Francisco Bay area, and several nearby cities.

See the California Department of Labor.

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Legal References:

Is Back Wages Not Paid a Civil Case?

Source: https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/labor/back-pay/

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