Legal Question in Employment Law in California

It sounds like you may have a claim for unpaid wages and/or penalties, for failure to properly pay overtime and provide breaks. This claim is probably most easily pursued before the California Labor Commissioner. Your other alternative is small claims court.

You may wish to consult with an attorney that handles plaintiff-side employment disputes.

Best of luck to you.

There certainly is action you can take. From the facts presented in your question, and assuming you are a non-exempt employee (i.e., you are entitled to overtime pay, meal periods, rest periods), your employer is clearly in violation of all kinds of California wage and hour laws, including failing to provide you with a meal period within the first five hours of work and failing to pay you overtime properly, and failing to keep proper payroll records.

You have a couple of options: you can file a wage claim with the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE, a.k.a. the Labor Commissioner), or you can retain an attorney to represent you against your employer in a lawsuit. If your claim is significant (and it might be, depending on your hourly wage and how long you have worked there), it is often worthwhile to hire an attorney. A good attorney will generally work more aggressively for you than the DLSE, not because the DLSE attorneys are inferior, but because they are often over-worked and don't have the resources to devote tons of attention to every case. In addition, when you retain an attorney and sue your employer in court, you may also recover all of your attorney fees (which you can not recover when you go through the DLSE). Many attorneys will provide a free initial consultation, and many (including my firm) will not charge you any out-of-pocket fees.

Also, your question states that your co-workers are experiencing the same treatment. If there are enough of you, it may be worthwhile to consider a class action or collective action against the employer; but that is something you should discuss with the DLSE or your attorney, should you decide to go that route.

Good luck to you!

As I responded to the same question you posted on Avvo.com, you may be entitled to one hour of pay for each meal period and each break in which your employer did not provide the opportunity for you to take. In addition, it is unlawful for your employer to not keep accurate time records and for not paying you what is owed to you for all work provided by you, including driving to buy things for your employer and overtime. Call an employment law attorney to discuss. Many offer a free initial phone consultation and may be able to get what is owed to you by writing a demand letter to your employer.