Wage and Hour Lawyer Los Angeles

Short answer: California pays overtime after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week, and double time after 12 hours in a day. Missed meal and rest breaks each earn an extra hour of pay. Unpaid wages can usually be claimed back three years, sometimes four. You can file a claim with the Labor Commissioner or sue in court. Retaliating against you for complaining is illegal.

Wage theft is the most common employment law violation in California. Often it isn’t one big theft but small amounts every pay period: a skipped break, overtime paid at the wrong rate, a few minutes of work before clocking in. Over three or four years, those amounts add up. Penalties and interest can add even more. Below we cover the violations we see most and how to recover what you’re owed.

Overtime and Double Time

Under Labor Code § 510, non-exempt employees in California earn:

• 1.5 times the regular rate for hours over 8 in a workday, over 40 in a workweek, and the first 8 hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek
• 2 times the regular rate for hours over 12 in a workday and over 8 on the seventh consecutive day

The “regular rate” isn’t just your hourly wage. It generally includes non-discretionary bonuses, commissions, and shift differentials. Leaving those out is a common way overtime gets underpaid. Approved alternative workweek schedules, like four 10-hour days, change the daily rule. Read our guides to California overtime law and double time. Estimate one workweek with the California overtime calculator.

Meal and Rest Breaks

• Meal breaks: an unpaid, duty-free 30-minute meal period must start before the end of your fifth hour of work. You can waive it by mutual agreement if you work no more than 6 hours. A second meal period is due before the end of the tenth hour, and can be waived if you work no more than 12 hours and didn’t waive the first.
• Rest breaks: a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked, or major fraction of 4 hours. Employees who work less than 3.5 hours in a day aren’t entitled to one. During a rest break you must be relieved of all duty, including staying on call (Augustus v. ABM Security Services, 2016).
• The premium: for each workday a meal break is missed, late, short, or interrupted, the employer owes one extra hour of pay at your regular rate. A missed rest break earns another hour (Labor Code § 226.7).

See California meal and rest break laws for examples, and on-call rules if your employer expects you to stay reachable during breaks.

Minimum Wage in Los Angeles County

Your employer must pay the highest minimum wage that applies to where you work: state, county, or city.

• California: $16.90 an hour in 2026
• City of Los Angeles: $18.42 an hour since July 1, 2026
• Unincorporated Los Angeles County: $18.47 an hour since July 1, 2026
• Santa Monica: $18.47; Pasadena: $18.57

Some industries have their own higher minimums. Local rates change every July 1, so check the current rate for your city. If you were paid less than minimum wage, you can recover the difference, interest, and liquidated damages equal to the unpaid amount (Labor Code § 1194.2). See California minimum wage laws.

Off-the-Clock Work

You must be paid for all time you’re under your employer’s control. Common examples of unpaid work include:

• Security checks and bag inspections after clocking out
• Booting up computers or logging into systems before clocking in
• Answering texts and emails after hours
• Required travel between job sites during the day
• Mandatory meetings and training

Exempt Misclassification

Being paid a salary doesn’t make you exempt from overtime. To be exempt as an executive, administrative, or professional employee in 2026, you generally must earn at least $70,304 a year and spend more than half your time on genuinely exempt duties. Many “assistant managers,” coordinators, and analysts don’t meet that test. If you were misclassified, you may be owed overtime and break premiums going back years. Read exempt vs. non-exempt employees.

Independent Contractor Misclassification

California uses the “ABC test” (Labor Code § 2775). A worker is an employee unless the company proves all three of these: the worker is free from its control, the work is outside the usual course of its business, and the worker runs an independently established business. Misclassified workers can recover unpaid overtime, breaks, expense reimbursement, and more. See rights of independent contractors in California.

Other Common Wage Violations

• Late final paychecks. Final wages are due immediately if you’re fired, and within 72 hours if you quit without notice. Each day late adds a day’s wages in penalties, up to 30 days (Labor Code § 203). See late final paycheck penalties, or estimate the amount with the final paycheck calculator.
• Inaccurate pay stubs. Pay stubs must show hours, rates, deductions, and other required items. Violations can carry penalties of $50 for the first pay period and $100 for each later one, up to $4,000 (Labor Code § 226).
• Unreimbursed expenses. Employers must reimburse necessary work expenses, including mileage and personal cell phone use (Labor Code § 2802).
• Paid sick leave. Most California employees are entitled to at least 40 hours or 5 days of paid sick leave a year.
• Unlawful deductions and withheld pay. Read can an employer withhold a paycheck?
• Cash pay with no records. See is paying under the table legal?

How to Recover Unpaid Wages

You have three main options, and the right one depends on how much is owed and how many coworkers are affected:

1. A Labor Commissioner wage claim. You file with the state, attend a settlement conference, and if the claim doesn’t settle, have a hearing (often called a Berman hearing). It costs nothing to file. Either side can appeal to superior court, and an employer that appeals generally has to post a bond. Read how to file a wage theft claim.
2. An individual lawsuit. Court allows full discovery, which helps when the employer controls the time records. Employees who win minimum wage and overtime claims can recover attorney’s fees.
3. A class action or PAGA claim. When the same policy shorted many workers, a class action or a representative claim under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) can address all of it at once. A PAGA claim starts with a notice to the Labor and Workforce Development Agency.

Deadlines for Wage Claims

• Unpaid wages, overtime, and break premiums: three years (Code of Civil Procedure § 338). This can extend to four years when the claim is brought under California’s Unfair Competition Law.
• Pay stub penalties and PAGA claims: one year.
• Waiting-time penalties: generally three years when sought along with unpaid final wages.
• Retaliation complaints to the Labor Commissioner: one year.

More detail: California wage and hour statute of limitations. Compare that clock with other claims in the employment deadline checker.

Retaliation for Wage Complaints Is Illegal

Your employer can’t fire, demote, cut hours, or threaten you for asking about pay, complaining about wages, or filing a claim (Labor Code § 98.6). Since 2024, adverse action within 90 days of a wage complaint is presumed retaliatory. Retaliation can support a separate wrongful termination claim with its own damages.

How Starpoint Law Handles Wage and Hour Cases

We start with your pay stubs, schedules, and any time records you have, and compare them with what the law required. Attorney Zachary Greenberg focuses on wage-and-hour class and representative actions. Managing Attorney Aidin Ghavimi handles individual wage claims, especially when they come with retaliation or a firing. Consultations are free, and we take wage cases on contingency, so there are no attorney fees unless we recover money for you. How a California contingency fee is written is explained in how much an employment lawyer costs in California.

Serving Workers Across Los Angeles County

You can meet with us at either office, or by phone or video:

• Century City: 1801 Century Park East, 24th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067
• Sherman Oaks: 15233 Ventura Blvd., PH16, Sherman Oaks, CA 91403

We represent workers owed wages throughout Los Angeles County, including in Beverly Hills, Encino, Glendale, Hollywood, Long Beach, Pasadena, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Clarita, Santa Monica, Sherman Oaks, Studio City, and Westwood.

If you’d rather file a wage claim yourself, the California Labor Commissioner has district offices in downtown Los Angeles, in Van Nuys at 6150 Van Nuys Blvd., and in Long Beach at 1500 Hughes Way. The City of Los Angeles Office of Wage Standards enforces the city’s minimum wage and sick leave rules, and the County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs enforces the minimum wage in unincorporated areas.

Our Sherman Oaks Office

Related Guides

• What to Do If an Employer Made a Mistake on Your Paycheck
• Can My Employer Force Me to Be on Call?
• What Is Considered Full Time in California?
• Is It Illegal to Work 7 Days a Week in California?
• Overtime Laws in California
• California Meal and Rest Break Laws
• Exempt vs. Non-Exempt Employees in California: Employment Law
• Penalty for Late Final Paychecks – CA Labor Code § 203
• How to File a Wage Theft Claim in California

Wage and Hour FAQ

How far back can I claim unpaid wages in California?

Generally three years from each violation, and sometimes four under the Unfair Competition Law. Every pay period you wait, the oldest unpaid wages can fall outside the deadline, so it pays to act quickly.

Is it legal for my employer to pay me a salary and no overtime?

Only if you’re properly exempt. In 2026 that generally means earning at least $70,304 a year and spending most of your time on exempt duties such as managing, exercising independent judgment, or professional work. A salary alone doesn’t make you exempt.

What happens if I didn’t get my meal break?

Your employer owes you one additional hour of pay at your regular rate for each workday the meal break was missed, late, cut short, or interrupted by work. Missed rest breaks earn a separate additional hour.

Should I file with the Labor Commissioner or hire a lawyer?

The Labor Commissioner works well for a clear, modest claim. A lawyer makes more sense when the amounts are larger, the employer disputes your hours, you were also fired or retaliated against, or coworkers were affected too.

Can I be fired for complaining about my pay?

No. Retaliation for wage complaints violates Labor Code § 98.6. If adverse action comes within 90 days of the complaint, the law presumes it was retaliation.

If you think you’ve been underpaid, call us at (310) 424-9971 or send us a message for a free consultation.