Legal Question in Employment Law in California

What you need to do is contact an employment lawyer ASAP. From your question, it sounds like your employer has violated the law in several ways. You should consult an employment lawyer right away regarding your rights and any possible claims you have.

Many employment lawyers provide free consultations and will not charge you anything up front to take your case (i.e. on a contingency basis), so you should not hesitate to contact an attorney because of financial concerns.

Good luck to you.

You definitely need to meet with an employment lawyer to see exactly what claims you have, and how you should pursue them. If there is more than one employee affected, you may be able to work together to pursue all your claims at one time.

My experience in this area is that employees are often better off changing jobs when the employer is engaged in numerous labor law violations. A lawyer may be able to help you pursue your claims -- but it is often unlikely that he or she can get a small company who routinely violates labor laws to comply. Indeed, they are often resentful and the situation for the employee becomes intolerable. You should discuss this with your attorney as well.

File a claim with the local Labor Commissioner office for the unpaid compensation, and consider hiring an attorney to help you file and pursue the case. If you win, you'll get your unpaid amounts and your attorney fees. If you are retaliated against for demanding your money, or for filling your claim, you would also have grounds for a civil lawsuit. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, and if this is in SoCal courts, feel free to contact me.

You are owed pay for all of the time you worked. Wage claims can go back 3-4 years (statute of limitations.) If you have an attorney represent you instead of filing a claim with the Labor Commissioner, your employer "shall" pay your attorneys' fees and 10% interest. You may also have a claim for unlawful retaliation for cutting your hours after you complained about your legal rights - but the Labor Commissioner can't help you with that claim. It is also unlawful to require an employee to use his/her vehicle for company work related driving without compensation and to deduct from a paycheck (other than for taxes, etc.) without written authorization. A strong demand letter from your attorney may get what is owed to you. You will need to decide if you want your attorney to send a letter while you are still employed or to wait until you are no longer working there. Keep in mind the statute of limitations for wage claims (3 and sometimes 4 years.)