Legal Question in Employment Law in California

hello and thanks for your help in advance

i just got hired at a subaru dealership in southern california and i think they are jipping me.

i have read and i have been told numerous things about what minimum wage is for mechanics and i just wanted to clarify the information that i have been gathering is correct.

i am a full time employee with my own tools, i was told that we are supposed to be getting paid 2x what california minimum wage is correct? so that would be $2x$8=$16/hr... well i am getting paid $8/hr and i am doing more then my job title description stated... at my previous job my pay was $8.25/hr and i was told by subaru that i would be getting hired at $9/hr. so i accepted the job (at the time i didnt know about the mechanic wage law of 2x minimum wage)... last minute after i quit my other job and finished most of the paperwork with subaru, they did the old switcheroo on me and switched my pay rate to $8/hr. i asked my service manager about that and he switched it back to $9/hr, so i signed. then after i signed, the gm told him to put me as $8/hr again so he did and later notified me of the changes!!!!! so now im stuck getting paid $8/hr when in my understanding im supposed to be getting paid $16/hr!!!!


Asked on 7/08/10, 9:52 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

The key is whether you are REQUIRED to provide your own tools. If that is a condition of your employment, then you are correct; you must be paid $16/hr or more. This is true for any trade, not just mechanics. If, however, you can do your job with the tools available from your employer, then whether you bring your own tools to work or not is irrelevant. So if you are required to provide the tools, you should NOT argue with these guys. You don't want to set yourself up for termination for insubordination or something. Just go straight to the state Dept. of Industrial Relations, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement and file a claim. That will give you protection from retaliatory termination.

If you are NOT required to provide the tools, you still may have a case for fraud over the $8/$9 issue. In that case, however, you do not have anywhere near as clear protection from retaliatory termination. So if you want to persue that it would probably be best to have another job lined up.

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Answered on 7/09/10, 9:13 am


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