Minimum Wage Violations

Have you discovered that your California employer pays you less than the legal minimum wage in your community? You deserve to seek financial recovery for your undercompensated hard work. Let the legal team at Moon Law Group, PC help.

Since 2007, our firm has worked exclusively on behalf of employees in Los Angeles and throughout California who have employment and labor law claims against businesses. Our attorneys have handled some of the most complex and labor-intensive cases. We have a proven track record of success in state and federal courts, where we’ve recovered millions of dollars for tens of thousands of hard-working individuals like you.

Our lawyers also have considerable experience in collective and class action lawsuits, which allow larger numbers of employees with similar claims to stand up against their employer’s misconduct. We have the resources, knowledge, and dedication to hold businesses accountable for mistreating their workers. As one of the largest plaintiff’s employment law firms in California, we have established a reputation as skilled and tenacious litigators who vigorously advocate for our clients’ rights and interests.

Discover how our firm can help you seek financial recovery after your employer violates your rights under minimum wage laws. Contact Moon Law Group for a free, confidential consultation with a knowledgeable Los Angeles minimum wage violation lawyer. You pay nothing for us to get started on your case, and there are no fees unless we successfully resolve your matter.

How Can a Los Angeles Minimum Wage Violation Lawyer Help with My Case?

An attorney from Moon Law Group can help you pursue a minimum wage violation case against your employer in the following ways:

• Investigating your claim to recover evidence of your employer’s minimum wage violations, including pay stubs, time sheets, surveillance footage, or witness testimony
• Calculating the compensation owed to you by reviewing your employment records
• Evaluating your legal options, including potential retaliation claims you may have if your employer terminated you after you complained about your pay
• Pursuing every available avenue to recover the compensation you deserve
• Vigorously fighting for a maximum financial recovery, even when that means taking your case to court and trial to hold your employer accountable
• Never charging you anything unless we recover compensation or successfully resolve your claim

What Are California’s Minimum Wage Laws?

Effective January 1, 2025, most employers in California are required to pay a minimum wage of $16.50 per hour. However, fast food restaurants and certain healthcare employers are required to pay their workers a higher minimum wage.

Fast food restaurant workers must receive a minimum wage of $20 per hour, starting April 1, 2024.

Various types of healthcare employers must also pay higher minimum hourly wages to workers, depending on the kind of employer. These include the following:

These rates are set to increase over the next five to 10 years.

The minimum wage in California adjusts annually for inflation, based on the national Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W), with a cap on annual increases of 3.5 percent. The minimum wage cannot decrease after a year with a negative CPI-W.

California law allows some exceptions to minimum wage, including for outside salespersons, parents, children, or spouses of employers, and apprentices regularly indentured under the State Division of Apprenticeship Standards.

The law also provides an exception for learners. Employers must pay not less than 85 percent of the applicable minimum wage, rounded to the nearest nickel, during the first 160 hours of employment in an occupation for which a learner has no prior similar or related experience.

California does not allow employers to take a tip credit against the minimum wage.

Several counties and municipalities in California have passed ordinances setting higher minimum wage rates than the base rate of $16.50 per hour under state law, including the following:

• Los Angeles – $17.78
• Los Angeles County (Unincorporated) – $17.81
• Malibu – $17.27 (suspended for one year)
• Pasadena – $18.04
• Santa Monica – $17.81
• West Hollywood – $19.65

Employers must pay the highest minimum wage rate required by federal, state, or local law, based on the location where an employee works.

How Do Employers Commonly Violate Minimum Wage Laws?

Employers may inadvertently or intentionally pay workers less than the minimum wage to which they are entitled under state law. Common ways that an employer can commit a minimum wage violation include the following:

• Paying workers a flat weekly or monthly wage that equals a per-hour wage below the minimum wage based on the number of hours a worker works (including overtime for non-exempt employees)
• Using a piece-rate pay structure that does not compensate workers for performing additional tasks connected to their primary job duty (such as not paying truckers while they fuel or load their trucks
• Taking a credit against tips received by workers
• Having workers sign written agreements waiving their rights under California’s minimum wage laws
• Misclassifying workers as independent contractors or outside salespersons
• Taking impermissible deductions from a worker’s paycheck

Can I Sue My Employer for Not Paying Me Minimum Wage?

An employee who receives less than the applicable minimum wage can file a lawsuit against their employer to recover compensation for their unpaid wages. Alternatively, employees who get paid less than minimum wage can file a complaint with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office.

The Commissioner’s Office’s Wage Claim Adjudication Unit reviews and issues administrative orders in response to individual workers’ claims for unpaid wages, including claims of receiving pay below the minimum wage.

Additionally, an employee can file a lawsuit against their employer if the employer terminates them for complaining about a minimum wage violation, seeking compensation for lost future wages and benefits, job search expenses, or emotional trauma and distress.

What Damages Could I Recover for My Employer Not Paying Me Minimum Wage?

In a minimum wage claim, you may have the right to recover compensation for various economic and personal losses you sustained due to your employer’s failure to pay you at least minimum wage. Financial recovery for a minimum wage violation can include money for the following:

• The unpaid balance of the applicable minimum wage
• Liquidated damages equal to the unpaid balance
• Interest from the due date of the unpaid wage
• Attorney’s fees and legal costs incurred to pursue the claim

Furthermore, when an employer terminates an employee for complaining about a minimum wage violation, the employee may recover compensation for the following:

• Lost wages from the date of the unlawful termination
• Lost employment benefits
• Job search expenses
• Emotional trauma or distress

How Long Do I Have to File a Claim for Not Being Paid Minimum Wage?

Under California law, you have three years to file a claim or lawsuit for violations of applicable minimum wage laws. Although three years may sound like plenty of time to file your claim, you will need time to gather the necessary evidence to prove your right to the unpaid balance of the applicable minimum wage.

You can best protect your legal rights by speaking with a minimum wage violation attorney from Moon Law Group. Reach out to us as soon as possible after you discover that your employer has paid you less than minimum wage.

What Employees Are Exempt from Being Paid Minimum Wage?

State law exempts certain employees from the minimum wage laws, including the following:

• A parent, child, or spouse of an employer
• Apprentices regularly indentured under the State Division of Apprenticeship Standards
• Outside salespersons

To qualify as an outside salesperson, a worker must meet specific criteria, including the following:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Regularly spend more than half of their work time away from the employer’s place of business
• Sell items or obtain orders or contracts for products, services, or use of facilities

A worker usually does not qualify as an outside salesperson if they spend less than 50 percent of their time doing sales-related work.

California law also exempts learners from minimum wage laws. A “learner” refers to an employee (of any age) working in their first 160 hours of employment in an occupation for which they have no previous similar or related experience. For those first 160 hours, an employer may pay a learner employee no less than 85 percent of the applicable minimum wage, rounded to the nearest nickel.

Minimum wage laws do not apply to independent contractors, who must have the opportunity for profit or loss to qualify as such.

What if I’m Not the Only One at My Workplace Who’s Not Being Paid Minimum Wage?

In many cases, multiple employees of a business find that their employer has paid them less than the applicable minimum wage. In these circumstances, the employees may band together to pursue a collective or class action against their employer. Collective or class actions enable employees with substantially similar claims against an employer to share legal expenses by pursuing a single lawsuit against the employer.

The legal team at Moon Law Group has extensive experience handling collective and class actions on behalf of employees. Reach out to us today if you’ve discovered that you and other co-workers have received less than minimum wage from your employer.

Contact a Los Angeles Minimum Wage Violation Attorney Today

When your employer has paid you less than the minimum wage in California, you deserve to pursue compensation through legal action. Contact Moon Law Group today for a free, confidential case review with a Los Angeles minimum wage violation attorney. We’ll assess your situation and explain your legal rights to recover compensation for the pay you should have earned under California’s minimum wage laws.