Wage Theft

Answer:

One area of the law that we do and that I’m most proud of, is representing employees that have been subjected to, literally, wage theft by their employer. We’ve had situations in which employees were given paychecks and told that, if they are going to work for the company next week, they’ve got to go cash that check and bring back to the manager cash out of their paycheck. The employer is essentially holding that paycheck hostage or future work hostage, saying the employee needed to pay a kickback to the employer. We’ve had situations in which we’ve had employees working on jobs that are called prevailing wage jobs, in which they might be a laborer typically making $13, $14 an hour, but on certain worksites – usually government, city, municipalities – they have to pay a much higher rate, a rate that’s called a prevailing wage. That’s sometimes three or four times as much what their normal wage is, and the employer will scale that wage or under report the hours. The employee might work 40 hours, but on their paycheck they’re only getting paid for 20. It’s important for people to understand that employers can’t steal their wages, either by demanding money out of your pocket right back to the employer or under reporting the number of hour or under reporting the actual hourly wage. In California, wage loss is unlawful. What I’ve noticed, unfortunately, is the reality that this type of wage theft routinely falls on the shoulders of recent immigrants, with a population in which their immigration status is less than clear. In California, it’s important for you to understand that everybody who works in California has protections. If you feel that you’ve been subjected to wage theft, it’s important for you to talk to an attorney to try and figure out those issues. If you have a family member – a brother or sister, mother or father – who only speaks Spanish or feels comfortable most in speaking Spanish, understand that at the Myers Law Group we’re here to help and that a number of our staff can assist you in bringing your claims, regardless of your immigration status and regardless of whether or not you can speak English or Spanish as your number one language. If you have any questions or if any of your family have questions, feel free to give us a call. We’re here to help and make sure that people don’t steal the wages that are rightfully owed to you. Thanks, we look forward to talking with you.