Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Holding wages

You can file a claim with the labor board. That is normally quicker. If you need an attorney to assist you an alternative way would be to file a lawsuit. Normally, the court or labor board would reward the employee recovery of all or some attorney fees. Please call us if you have any questions.

Re: Holding wages

You can file a claim with the Labor Commissioner in your area, or find an attorney to sue for the money owed you.

Re: Holding wages

The first thing to do is to inquire as to the reason. There may be a valid reason, or perhaps there isn't. Among valid reasons would be that you misunderstand the pay schedule (there is a law that says you have to be paid on payday, but contrary to widespread belief, no law saying when payday arrives. Possibly you forgot to turn in your hours, or didn't sign your time card, or your check was direct-deposited and you didn't notice, or possibly your check was stolen by a third party.

You should make inquiries to rule out reasons that are either valid or outside the employer's control and responsibility before making claims or spending money on lawyers.

Having said all that, it is indeed true that a majority of non-payments are due to the employer being short of cash, and that is a valid reason to file a complaint. The next most frequent reason, also invalid, is that some clerk in the payroll department made a mistake - also a reason to file a complaint unless it can be cleared up quickly and doesn't become a recurring problem.

Re: Holding wages

File a claim with the Labor Commissioner, seek wages, interest and penalties. If fired or retaliated against for making a valid claim, contact me to discuss your rights and remedies.