Every employer operating in California must abide by the labor regulations in place at the federal, state, and local levels. Many of these regulations pertain to the classification of employees, designating certain rights and responsibilities for several employee classifications. Employers must classify their employees accurately. Unfortunately, this does not always happen as it should. An Orange County employee misclassification lawyer can help if you have been misclassified.
State and federal overtime rules do not cover certain categories of employment. Salaried workers can be required to work long hours without any extra pay. Independent contractors can be paid straight-time wages instead of premium wages. Many California employers have taken advantage of the misunderstandings regarding employee classification to avoid paying benefits and higher wages when they legally should.
Some employers have also used employee misclassification to indirectly deny their workers overtime. Typically, overtime is paid at 1.5 times the normal hourly pay rate, so someone who typically earns $20 per hour would earn $30 per hour when they work overtime. Many such workers are knowingly misclassified by employers to avoid paying overtime. The California labor commissioner has spotlighted this rampant practice. If you were wrongly classified as exempt, you could be entitled to months or years worth of unpaid overtime compensation.
Some employers have also used employee misclassification to indirectly deny their workers overtime. Typically, overtime is paid at 1.5 times the normal hourly pay rate, so someone who typically earns $20 per hour would earn $30 per hour when they work overtime. Many such workers are knowingly misclassified by employers to avoid paying overtime.
The California labor commissioner has spotlighted this rampant practice. If you were wrongly classified as exempt, you could be entitled to months’ or years’ worth of unpaid overtime compensation.
When you have been knowingly misclassified in your employment and denied wages and benefits that you should have legally received, you need experienced guidance you need experienced guidance to help you pursue an employment misclassification case.
An Orange County employee misclassification attorney can help you recover your losses and hold your employer accountable for their illegal actions. At the California Employment Counsel, APC, our team focuses entirely on employment law and strives to provide every client we represent with individualized, comprehensive legal counsel.
California Employment Counsel, APC, has successfully represented salaried employees and contractors in misclassification claims in Orange County and Southern California. Our lawyers have helped individual clients and groups of employees recover back pay and other damages.
When you hire an employee misclassification lawyer from our firm, the team can thoroughly investigate the entire range of lost wages, benefits, and other compensation you were denied and make every effort to pursue full recovery.
Our firm can offer financially accessible legal services, including free initial consultations and a policy that says there are no attorney fees unless we win.
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Many California workers are more than willing to put in overtime hours to earn extra income. Some people rely on regular overtime to make ends meet. Unfortunately, some California workers mistakenly believe they are not entitled to overtime because of their employers’ intentional misclassification. Misclassification tends to fall into two categories:
Many employees in these situations often feel stuck, thinking they are making as much as they can when, in fact, they are legally entitled to much more. For example, an independent contractor who spends a full year performing a full-time employee’s duties and meeting California standards for full-time employment could potentially claim tens of thousands of dollars in missed compensation and benefits in this time. An assistant manager who regularly works ten or more overtime hours each week could be entitled to back pay for their overtime hours.
There are several criteria to examine when it comes to determining a California employee’s true employment status. Recent employment legislation passed in California aims to make it even more difficult for employers to misclassify and exploit their employees. Some of the factors that must be considered when weighing an employee misclassification claim include:
Our knowledgeable employment law attorneys can examine your job duties, work schedule, autonomy, and other factors to gauge whether you should properly be classified as nonexempt (i.e., an hourly employee) according to employment misclassification laws. You may have a claim for hundreds of hours of unpaid overtime, plus interest and penalties.
Another benefit to pursuing a legal claim against an employer who intentionally misclassified you is the fact that your legal action could force the employer to revise its practices and prevent similar situations from occurring in the future. At California Employment Counsel, APC, we believe in holding employers who illegally take advantage of their employees accountable for the damage they cause.
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The first step in recovering your losses from employee misclassification is to hire an employee misclassification lawyer. Your attorney can help you determine what employment status applies most accurately to your situation under California state law and whether your employer’s classification aligns with legal statutes.
With a strong claim, your proceedings should be fairly straightforward. Your Orange County employee misclassification lawyer will help prepare you for all your court appearances and the various phases of litigation until you and your employer arrive at a settlement. In some cases, employee misclassification can be a symptom of larger problems with a company. Your employee misclassification claim can shed light on these situations and even potentially lead to criminal proceedings against your employer.
Success with your employee misclassification claim can yield compensation for all the wages, benefits, and overtime pay you should have rightfully earned under applicable employment laws. At California Employment Counsel, APC, our goal is to pursue our clients’ full recovery in every case.
In California, employee classification is not determined simply by whether someone is paid a salary. To qualify as exempt from overtime and other wage protections, an employee must meet both a salary requirement and a duties-based test.
Many misclassification cases arise because employers focus on job titles or pay structures, yet they overlook what the employee actually does on a daily basis. Understanding these criteria is essential for identifying whether a worker has been properly classified under the law.
The salary requirement is the first threshold. Under California Labor Code Section 515, an employee must earn a monthly salary equivalent to at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time employment.
If this threshold is not met, the employee is generally considered non-exempt, regardless of job duties. However, meeting the salary requirement alone is not enough. The second and often more contested element is the “duties test,” which focuses on how the employee actually spends their time.
California recognizes several “white-collar” exemptions, including executive, administrative, and professional roles. Each category has specific criteria, but they all share a critical requirement: the employee must spend more than 50% of their time performing exempt duties.
If a manager spends most of their time stocking shelves, for example, they may be subject to confusion about their classification, as their title and job duties don’t align perfectly. This creates a lot of confusion and divided opinion in an employee misclassification case. Some employers may make arguments that a person’s responsibilities change, or that certain periods of work don’t represent the full scope of the position.
For employees, understanding the duties test is key to recognizing when something is wrong. If your daily responsibilities do not align with the legal definition of an employment role, you may have been misclassified. It’s important to note that while some companies deliberately misclassify employees as a means to save on payroll and benefit costs, mistakes can happen as well. Consider how complex the California employment landscape is:
While the massive pool of workers and conflicting classifications create room for error, even honest mistakes can be corrected by employee misclassification laws. It’s not a worker’s responsibility to simply deal with a loss of rightfully earned pay and benefits because of someone else’s oversight.
Our law firm can help you confront these issues, determine what went wrong, and move forward professionally. Whether the employer tried to intentionally misclassify you or the matter was a result of a simple error, our firm can help you pursue what you are legally owed.
With the right legal counsel, you can approach your employment misclassification issue with clarity and confidence.
If you believe your employer misclassified you, you have options. It can be difficult to determine how your employment situation should be legally classified, and an experienced Orange County employee misclassification attorney can help clarify your situation.
Our team can help discern whether you have been wrongfully misclassified and denied benefits and compensation. If you suffered losses due to this mistake, whether it was intentional or not, our team can build a case and help you recover what you’re rightfully owed. We’ve got many positive reviews showing how hard we work on behalf of California workers.
Employment law is all we do. Our employee misclassification attorneys offer a free consultation and take cases on a contingency fee basis — it costs you nothing upfront to explore your potential claim. Contact us online today to get started.
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Costa Mesa, CA 92626
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714-462-8376
555 Anton Blvd., Suite 150,
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
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