Legal Question in Employment Law in California
I quit my full-time job to accept another job as a paralegal at a small law firm. The first problem is in the interview the office manager told me that the firm paid a lower salary over the year and on the tail end that they pay bonuses that would equal what I was currently making which was $64,000/yr. When I started they gave me an offer letter that on listed $41,000/yr and when I approached her about it she said that they couldn't put the bonus portion it in writing. Also, the firm was very unprofessional with a baby and dog running around the office. The final straw was when the owner of the firm totally cursed out another attorney in front of everyone. I was very uncomfortable. Shortly thereafter I told the lady attorney who was cured out that I couldn't work in an environment with verbal abuse and that I was quitting. I then went to the office manager and told her that I was quitting because I could not work in an environment within extreme verbal abuse. She asked me if I could stay to the end of the day. Later that day the owner came to talk to me and asked me if I could stay on with the firm for a 30-day trial period and I said no, but he kept pressuring me so I said I would stay as long. After going home and putting thought into it I just decided to quit because I knew it was a firm I didn't want to work for. I called the office manager the next morning and she was in a meeting so I left her a voicemail stating that I was quitting and to immediately mail my final paycheck. This was on 1/26/11. On 2/3/11 I had not received my check so I called the office manager and she was not in so I left a voicemail to immediately mail my check. I also faxed over a demand letter stating that if I didn't have my check by 2/4/11 that I would be filing a claim for the $315.00 they owed me plus waiting time penalties. She called me on 2/4/11 and said that they mailed the check on 1/26/11 and asked if I could just wait another day or so. On 2/8/11 I still have not received my check so I faxed over a final demand letter to send my check in overnight mail by today. I still have not received my check. I think at this point they owe me well over $2,000 for waiting time penalties and pain and suffering. Any feedback on my situation would be appreciated. Thanks.
2 Answers from Attorneys
File a claim with the Bureau of Labor Standards Enforcement of the Dept. of Industrial Relations. You can find them online easily, and I'm pretty sure you can even initiate a claim online these days.
It sounds like you're up on your labor law. An at-will employee who quits must be paid her wages within seventy two (72) hours. The date payment is mailed is deemed the date of payment for purposes of the 72-hour rule, so if they mailed the check on January 26th, you would not be entitled to waiting time penalties. Even if the check was sent to the wrong address, you probably would not be able to recover waiting time penalties because the statute requires a willful failure to pay.
Regarding the salary issue, did you quit your job based on the office manager's averment that you would be making $64,000 and did the new company know that you would be quitting your old job to accept the new one? If so, you might have a cause of action under California Labor Code 970. Please give me a call at 213-381-6557 or send me an email at [email protected] if you would like to discuss the matter further.
All the best,
Ari
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