Legal Question in Employment Law in California

So I'm pretty sure we don't have a case but... My current employer decided to switch benefits packages this year into a high deductible plan (no problem there). There was a lot of resistence from the employees (we all hated it). To placate the staff the president of the company sent out an email that they would be matching our contributions to our HSA (health saving plan) for up to half of our deductible (so with our 4000 deductible... 2000).

Fast forward to the new year. HR department messed everything up... They "forgot" to due HSA contributions (which were filled out during open enrollment)... They changed the matching contribution to be at the end of month. Many of us "lost" our direct deposit (they forgot to transfer to new payroll system)... We didn't get access to payroll system until a couple days after we got paid (meaning we couldn't validate things until after).

While this definitely is not ethical... I think they only thing we might have traction on is the lack of seeing pay stubs (which might be hard to really pursue). Any opinions?


Asked on 1/09/15, 1:51 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Charles Perry Law Offices of Charles R. Perry

Failure to comply with the California Labor Code regarding pay stubs can indeed create a viable claim. Employees may also be able to band together to pursue this, or one person could seek penalties under a law whose acronym is PAGA.

An employer cannot retroactively change an employee's compensation. If the employer erred in making HSA contributions for past periods of time, a claim may exist. It is not possible to tell for sure in your case, based only on the information presented.

This may be something for a plaintiff-side labor lawyer. Many offer free initial consultations.

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Answered on 1/10/15, 1:53 am


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