Wage & Hour Attorneys

Workers are entitled to a number of protections on the job under both federal and state laws regarding their wages and working conditions. The attorneys at Olivier & Schreiber LLP have decades of combined experience prosecuting wage and hour claims against employers and recovering tens of millions of dollars in lost wages for workers. 

Our firm has prosecuted individual and class action cases in many industries and occupations including:

• Flight attendants, pilots, and ground crew.
• Truck drivers.
• Construction workers.
• Massage therapists.
• Retail workers.
• Sales representatives in the medical and pharmaceutical industries.
• Financial services representatives.

Some examples of illegal wage and hour conduct that our firm tackles include:

• Employee Misclassification: Employers misclassify employees as independent contractors which denies those employees benefits such as workers’ compensation, health insurance, and reimbursement of business expenses. Even if you are working part-time, have flexible hours, or have more than one job, you could be misclassified as an independent contractor in violation of the law. Employers also misclassify employees as exempt workers not entitled to overtime. Whether an employee is exempt from overtime is a legal test that depends on the type of work performed, not the choice of the employer or employee. Employers who misclassify their workers can be required to pay back wages, penalties, and attorneys’ fees. 
• Minimum Wage: Federal law requires employers to pay their hourly employees a minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. California law has a much higher minimum wage of $12.00, unless an employer has 26 or more employees, in which case, the minimum is increased to $13.00. The minimum wage may be even higher depending on where the work is performed because some cities have higher minimum wage requirements. In addition, certain “prevailing wage” work (usually work performed for a government) may be higher still. When a state’s minimum wage requirements are higher than the federal minimum, employers must pay the higher of the two amounts. Employers who fail to pay the legal minimum wage can be required to pay back wages, penalties, and attorneys’ fees. 
• Overtime Wages: State and federal law require employers to compensate certain employees for overtime if they work over 40 hours in a week (federal and California law) or over eight hours in a day (California law). The overtime wage rate is one and a half-times an employee’s regular hourly rate. In California, if an employee works more than 12 hours in a day, they must be compensated at twice their regular rate for those hours. These laws apply only to hourly workers; salaried employees (who are properly classified) are generally exempt from this requirement.  
• Expenses: In California, employers are obligated to reimburse employees for any expenses that are reasonable and necessary to do the work performed. This typically includes such expenses as cell phones, laptops, uniforms, mileage, and tools and equipment. If an employer is making you pay for these expenses, they may be violating the law.
• Unpaid Commissions:  Employers in California are required to provide commissions agreements that spell out how commissions are calculated to their employees in writing. Employees who earn commission generally have a right to those commissions if they substantially complete the necessary work, even if they are no longer employed. If your employer is withholding or reducing your commissions pay, they may be doing so unlawfully.

Olivier & Schreiber has successfully represented workers in a number of industries to recover millions of dollars in lost wages. If you have questions about unpaid wages, overtime, unreimbursed expenses, commissions, or any other wage and hour matter, please contact one of our attorneys.