In 2018, the California Supreme Court adopted the ABC Test for determining whether workers are independent contractors in the seminal case of Dynamex Operations W., Inc. v. Superior Court (2018) 4 Cal.5th 903. That test, generally speaking, is more favorable for workers because it requires hiring entities to prove that a worker (A) is free […]
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Is Your Employer Paying You Properly for Missed Meal and Rest Breaks? Only If it Includes Nondiscretionary Pay in Your Regular Rate of Compensation.
The California Supreme Court has clarified that employers must include both hourly wages and all nondiscretionary payments when calculating the regular rate of pay for the purposes of compensating employees for missed meal and rest periods. See Ferra v. Loews Hollywood Hotel, LLC (2021) 11 Cal.5th 858. The Court further held that this decision applies […]
Read more...A Win for Workers in the Fourth District Court of Appeal
The attorneys at Hunter Pyle Law (HPL), along with co-counsel Feinberg, Jackson, Worthman & Wasow (FJWW) recently received a favorable decision from the Fourth District Court of Appeal in a case called Uribe v. Crown Building Maintenence Co. (September 30, 2021, Case No. G057836). HPL and FJWW represent Isabel Garibay, a worker who intervened in […]
Read more...PAGA and Manageability: Some Lessons Learned from Wesson v. Staples
On September 9, 2021, in Wesson v. Staples the Office Superstore, LLC (Cal. Ct. App., Sept. 9, 2021, No. B302988) 2021 WL 4099059, Division 4 of the Second District Court of Appeal addressed an important question of first impression: whether trial courts have the authority to ensure that claims brought under California’s Private Attorneys General Act […]
Read more...Minimum Wage, Public Employees, and the University of California
The University of California (referred to in this post as “the Regents”) employs more than two hundred thousand people. Determining which laws apply to the Regents can be challenging. Gomez v. Regents (2021) 63 Cal.App.5th 386 provides some guidance with respect to California’s wage and hour laws. In Gomez, the plaintiff challenged the Regents’ policy […]
Read more...My Company Went Out of Business and Owes Me Wages: Successor Liability in California (2021)
Workers who are the victim of wage theft can bring claims either in court or at the Labor Commissioner to recover their unpaid wages, damages, and penalties. Those claims, if successful, result in a judgment against the workers’ employer. But what if the employer goes out of business to avoid liability, and reforms a short […]
Read more...Joint Employer Liability in California Wage and Hour Cases
Workers who sue for unpaid wages in California often find that their immediate employer has no money to pay them. Fortunately, California has a broad joint employer doctrine that allows workers to sue entities other than their immediate employers-including both businesses and individuals-for such wages. Continue reading “Joint Employer Liability in California Wage and Hour Cases”
Read more...Individual Liability for Wage and Hour Violations under California Law
This blog post explores several California statutes that allow workers to sue individuals for unpaid wages and related claims. That scenario normally arises when workers are employed by a business entity such as a corporation, and that entity is unable or unwilling to pay the wages that it owes. As demonstrated by the Atempa case analyzed below, the issue of whether individuals can be held liable can become critical when a corporate employer files for bankruptcy in an effort to avoid its obligations to its workers.
The relevant statutes discussed are Labor Code sections 558, 558.1, 1197.1, and 351. Continue reading “Individual Liability for Wage and Hour Violations under California Law”
Read more...Alter Ego/Piercing the Corporate Veil in California Wage and Hour Cases
In any given week, approximately 25 percent of workers do not receive all of the wages that are owed to them.[1] As much as $50 billion per year in wages go unpaid nationally, with an estimated $26 million per week unpaid in Los Angeles County alone.[2] Those workers who are brave enough to pursue their […]
Read more...Employee or Independent Contractor? The State of California Law in 2021
Determining whether a worker is an employee (EE) or an independent contractor (IC) under California law has become more complicated in recent years. However, in 2020 the California Legislature clarified that the ABC test (which is described more fully below) should be applied to all claims brought under either the California Labor Code or California’s […]
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