Your job represents your livelihood, and if you experience discrimination on the job, are let go unfairly, or face hour and wage violations, the effects can be exceptionally damaging. In the State of California, employees have important rights that are well worth protecting, and an experienced Oakland employment attorney can help you with that.Â
California has careful wage and hour laws in place that require employers to pay their non-exempt employees the minimum wage (at the least) and not to cheat them out of the overtime wages theyâre owed. Further, the state has exacting exemption status laws that require employers to classify their employees correctly.Â
The minimum wage that employers can pay their non-exempt employees in 2022 â for those with 25 or fewer employees â is $14 an hour. And for those employers with 26 or more employees, the minimum wage is $15 an hour. In 2023, the minimum wage will be $15 an hour for both employee ranges.Â
Non-exempt employees are also entitled to overtime pay for every hour over 8 they work in a day or for every hour over 40 they work in a week. Overtime wages are 1.5 times the employeeâs normal hourly wage.Â
A common means of cheating employees out of pay is the mischaracterization of their exemption status. Many California employees are non-exempt, which means that they are not exempt from the application of wage and hour laws. Employers are not required to apply the minimum wage and overtime requirements for exempt employees, but only employees who earn a salary of at least $62,400 yearly (for those employers with at least 26 employees) can be classified as exempt.Â
It is illegal for employers to discriminate against employees based on protected characteristics, and this includes allowing these characteristics to influence the laying off or firing of employees. These protected characteristics include all the following:Â
Even when discrimination in the workplace is subtle, it can lead to serious hardship for those affected and can create a toxic work environment.Â
The formidable Oakland employment attorneys at Olivier & Schreiber P.C. understand the harm unfair employment tactics can cause and dedicate their solid practice to protecting the rights of our clients â in pursuit of favorable case resolutions. Your rights as an employee are too important to ignore, so please donât wait to contact us for more information about how we can help you today.Â
How did we do?
Note: Your review may be shared publicly.