Employees working more than 5 hours per day must be provided 30-minute meal periods; except that if the total work period per day is no more than 6 hours, the meal period may be waived by mutual consent. Employees required to work more than 10 hours per day must be provided a second 30-minute meal period; except that if the total work period per day is no more than 12 hours. The second meal period may be waived but only if the first is not. Limitations on meal periods must not be too restrictive, otherwise they will be considered time worked and possibly subject to overtime pay. Employees must also be given a paid 10-minute rest period to be taken in the middle of each 4-hour period. Substantial penalties may be assessed for each failure to comply.

5. Failing to pay Split Shift Premium Pay Defendants

Employers willfully violated the provisions of Wage Order and Cal. Code   Reg., Title 8, section 11050 (4)(c), which require split shift premium pay (one hour?s pay) for a work schedule, which is interrupted by non-paid non-working periods established by the employer.

    6.  Failing to Reimburse Employees For Costs Of Uniform

Certain retail stores and restaurants unlawfully force their employees to purchase uniforms from the employer or require uniforms for which the employees are not reimbursed, in violation of the California Labor Code.

7. Taking or Receiving Tips

No employer or supervisor may collect, take or receive tips left for its employees by patrons. However, tip pooling among co-employees is proper.

8. Improperly Calculating Overtime

Generally, employees working over 8 hours per day or over 40 hours per week and the first 8 hours worked on the seventh day of work in one workweek must be compensated at 1 ½ times their hourly rate. Any work in excess of 12 hours per day and any hours worked in excess of 8 on the seventh day of work in one workweek must be compensated at twice their hourly rate. Employers who violate overtime provisions may be subject to substantial penalties.

10. Misclassifying Exempt Employees

Some salaried employees who are classified as "managers" are improperly classified as exempt. To be properly classified exempt, a "manager" must generally be paid a salary equivalent to at least twice the minimum wage, have specified customary supervisory authority over two or more employees, customarily exercise independent discretion and spend more than 50% of the time performing managerial duties. Improperly classified employees may be entitled to overtime compensation and may recover unpaid overtime for the last 3-4 years.

11. Failing to Pay Expense Reimbursement

An employer who fails to reimburse employees for expenses incurred in carrying out their employment is liable to the employee for the amount of all necessary expenses within the scope of employment, interest, attorney's fees and costs. The employer also may not debit an employee's pay to cover and part of another employee or staff member's salary or expenses.

12. Failing to Maintain Policies Against Discrimination and Harassment
 

Employers must maintain properly drafted written policies against discrimination and harassment. Such policies must provide employees with a proper complaint and investigation procedure and must be enforced diligently. Having appropriate written policies in effect may relieve employers from substantial punitive damage liability in employee lawsuits.

13. Failing to Accommodate Legally Recognized Disabilities

Employers must make reasonable accommodations to employees with legally- recognized disabilities that are known to them. Generally, employees with physical or mental impairments that limit their ability to perform a major life activity qualify for accommodation. In such cases, reasonable accommodations must be afforded, unless it would cause undue hardship upon the employer. However, it is important to note that not every condition qualifies for legal protection. The law is quite complex in this area.

14. Refusing to Allow Appropriate Time off under FMLA.

The Family and Medical Leave Act requires employers with 50 or more employees to permit up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period to care for an employee's "serious health condition," as defined by law, or that of a spouse, child or parent, or to care for a newborn or a child placed with the employee for adoption or foster care. However, the employee must have been employed at least 12 months at a facility with 50 or more employees within 75 miles and must have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately preceding the leave.

UNLAWFUL WORKPLACE HARASSMENT & DISCRIMINATION

California employment harassment & discrimination laws may apply to employers with as little as one employee on payroll just as equally as they may apply to Fortune 500 companies. In other words, small business owners carry the same exposure to harassment & discrimination lawsuits that large-scale companies do.

California law requires employers to maintain a work environment free of harassment & discrimination based on an employee's race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition, marital status, sex, age, pregnancy or sexual orientation. Upon having reasonable knowledge that harassment or discrimination based on one or more of these target groups is occurring, an employer is absolutely required to take reasonable steps to protect its employees from further acts of harassment & discrimination.

California specifically mandates immediate and appropriate corrective and investigative action by employers. Not only must employers stop unlawful conduct, but must launch immediate investigations into allegations raised. Employers who fail to do so may expose themselves to significant liability down the road should the affected employee file a lawsuit.

Liability in harassment & discrimination lawsuits can be substantial. California permits recovery of Actual Damages, such as lost wages and medical expenses, Emotional Distress Damages, Punitive Damages and Attorney Fees. The amount of Punitive Damages available to the employee largely depends upon whether the employer had actual or constructive notice of unlawful conduct and the appropriateness of the employer's actions in preventing and investigating the unlawful conduct.

Failure to Pay Overtime

California law requires that employers pay non-exempt employees overtime pay for hours worked over the standard number of hours.
Employers may unknowingly be failing to pay overtime compensation. Under certain circumstances, some salaried employees who are classified as "managers" are entitled to overtime compensation under California law.

To be properly classified as a "manager," you must meet certain criteria set forth in the Executive Exemption to overtime pay. Generally, a manager must meet the following:

·         A manager must be paid a salary which is equivalent to at least two times the state minimum hourly wage for full-time employment

·         A manager must be involved in the management of a business, or the management of a department or smaller division within a business

·         A manager must customarily direct the work of two or more employees

·         A manager must have authority to hire, fire or promote or recommend the same

·         A manager must be able to customarily exercise his/her discretion in performing his/her duties

·         A manager must spend more than 50% of his/her time essentially performing managerial or supervisory duties

California law requires that employers pay non-exempt employees overtime pay for hours worked over the standard number of hours. Employees are entitled to overtime compensation, regardless of whether they are paid salary or hourly, if more than 50% of their time is devoted to duties termed as "non-managerial duties".   Such non-managerial duties include, but are not limited to: lifting, handling and unloading merchandise or stock; setting up and shelving stock; cleaning merchandise; cleaning the store; waiting on and selling to customers; working the cash register; inputting data into the computer information system; and other similar duties. Employees are considered to be overtime exempt only if the employer can prove the employee spent more than 50% of his or her work time engaged in activities like managing, directing, supervising, training and delegating work to subordinate employees.

If you are classified as a manager by your employer, but you do not meet the above criteria, you may be misclassified, entitling you to overtime pay for time worked in excess of eight hours per day or forty hours per week during the last four years. 

Managers are not the only category of salaried employees who can be misclassified. There are several other employment categories that carry with them their own criteria for purposes of determining whether overtime pay is required. Often times, even properly classified employees lose their exempt status as a result of certain actions by employers. This, too, may entitle these employees to overtime pay. For instance, a company that takes deductions from salary for time off caused by the employer or for time off due to slow periods, risks the loss of exempt status to those employees. As another example, under certain circumstances, deductions taken for personal or sick time may also compromise the validity of an employee's exempt status.

There are many different mistakes an employer can make that would compromise exempt status; entitling salaried employees to overtime pay. Many times, overtime claims due to misclassification result in class actions.

WRONGFUL TERMINATION & RETALIATORY DISCHARGE

In general terms, if an employee is an "at-will" employee it is legal in California for private, non-governmental employers to fire them without having a good reason to do so.  This is called "employment at-will." That being said, there are many illegal reasons to fire at-will employees, reasons that trigger a wrongful termination case even if you are an at-will employee.  When firing employees, employers often try to hide behind the at-will rule when the real reason for the termination is an illegal or unlawful motive such as racial discrimination, sexual harassment, or in retaliation for being a whistleblower.  It also is illegal to fire an employee without good cause if there is an express or implied contract requiring good cause for termination.

Equal Pay  Under the Equal Pay Act (EPA), employers are barred from paying women less than men if they are working on jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and if those jobs are performed under similar working conditions. An employer may not retaliate against a female worker through firing or demotion because an EPA charge was initiated.

Whistleblower Litigation The term "whistleblower" has many meanings in different contexts.  There are many types of conduct which employment lawyers might refer to as forms of "whistle blowing."  Certain laws provide protection against retaliation for those who report violations of laws, participate in investigations, or serve as witnesses in particular types of cases.  Whistle blowing can consist of reporting crimes or fraud to government agencies or to management.  Whistle blowing can also consist of serving as a witness in many different types of cases, or assisting in investigations of many different types.

Wrongful Termination & Retaliatory Discharge  If you have been fired or demoted because of an "illegal reason" you have been wrongfully terminated.  An "illegal reason" may include discrimination based on race, age, sex, religion, marital status, national origin, or a disability.  Wrongful termination or wrongful discharge cases include retaliatory discharge, workers' compensation discharge, and whistleblower litigation.

Whistleblower Lawsuits (Qui Tam)

If you are a current or former employee of a business, which has received money directly or indirectly from the United States government, you are eligible to bring a federal whistleblower lawsuit and receive a percentage of the recovery of any monies falsely obtained by the business/employer from the United States government.

Originally, the Federal False Claim Act (31 USC §§ 3729-3733) was enacted in order to get individuals to help the government stop rampant fraud being committed by companies providing inoperable rifles, spoiled food, and selling horses over and over to the United States government during the Civil War.

The government, under the Federal False Claims Act, provides significant financial incentives for individuals to come forward and report the information revealing fraud on the United States government.

Essentially, the Federal False Claims Act allows citizens who are able and who have knowledge of fraud against the government to play an active role through their attorney to bring justice against those businesses that overcharge or cheat the government by filing what is called a Qui Tam lawsuit.

The statute of limitations on bringing such a false claim lawsuit (Qui Tam) is either six (6) years from the date on which the violation is committed or three (3) years after the date when the facts material to the right of bringing the lawsuit are known or reasonably should have been known to the official of the United States charged with the responsibility to act in the circumstances, but in no event, more than ten (10) years after the date on which the violation is committed, whichever occurs last.

There are a number of different types of cases that can be brought against such "Qui Tam" businesses who defraud the government, although the cases seem to fall into certain specific categories such as: (a) Medicare fraud; (b) defense contractor fraud; (c) environmental non-compliance; (d) bid rigging with actual false claim; (e) agricultural supplements; and (f) overcharging and/or product substitution and/or falsifying services performed.  Qui Tam claims have been used to attempt to curb or stop fraudulent healthcare billing.  False billing would include: billing for services or products not actually given or provided; inappropriate health coding misrepresentation; billing for medically unnecessary services or products; submitting duplication of medical bills; falsifying records to obtain payment including changing signatures, dates or adding information to the medical records.

Examples of false reporting (which occurs by institutions such as home health agencies, hospitals and nursing homes) are inflating costs for providing services or medical equipment; sending in patient/staffing data or statistics to increase a share of government payouts from Medicare or Medicaid; seeking reimbursement for patient care, when patients do not exist, under false names, or additionally, kick-backs (e.g. getting cash payments in return for referrals of patients or bartering arrangements in exchange for such referrals) for which compensation is received ultimately from the United States government under the Medicare or Medicaid program.

A current (or former) employee who "blows the whistle" on an employer is usually the most frequent individual who seeks to bring a Qui Tam or False Clams lawsuit.  This is so because such individual has inside information not otherwise available to the public, and often such employee if no longer working with the business, may have been fired or retaliated against for bringing to light to the business the fraud and trying to correct it prior to his or her termination.

Frauds perpetrated on the United States government thus can be made public in the proper manner by individuals with personal knowledge of the particular scheme utilized by the employer to defraud the government.  The Federal False Claim Act provides significant financial incentives for such individuals to step forward with the advice of their counsel.