Employment Law · January 5, 2026 · Khehra Law Corporation
Wage theft costs California workers billions of dollars every year. Despite having some of the strongest worker protection laws in the nation, employers — from small restaurants to major corporations — routinely violate California labor law. If you're not being paid what you're legally owed, you have powerful legal remedies available to you.
Wage theft is any practice where an employer fails to pay a worker the full compensation they are legally entitled to. It is the most common labor violation in California and disproportionately affects low-wage workers, immigrants, and workers in industries like food service, retail, construction, agriculture, and warehousing.
California overtime law is more protective than federal law. Non-exempt employees must receive 1.5x their regular rate for hours beyond 8 in a day or 40 in a week, and 2x their regular rate for hours beyond 12 in a day or beyond 8 on the seventh consecutive day of work. Employers violate these rules by misclassifying workers as "exempt," requiring off-the-clock work, calculating overtime based on the wrong rate, or using averaging to avoid daily overtime triggers.
California's statewide minimum wage is $16.50 per hour as of 2025. Several cities have higher local minimums — Los Angeles, for example, has its own rate. Fast food workers at chains with 60+ locations nationally are entitled to $20.00 per hour under AB 1228. Healthcare workers have a separate minimum wage schedule that phases up to $25.00 per hour.
California law requires a 30-minute unpaid meal break for shifts exceeding 5 hours (a second meal break for shifts exceeding 10 hours), and a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked. If your employer denies, interrupts, or pressures you to skip these breaks, they owe you one additional hour of pay at your regular rate for each violation, each day — this is called "premium pay."
Under California's ABC Test (codified by AB 5), workers are presumed to be employees unless the employer proves all three prongs: (A) the worker is free from the company's control and direction, (B) the worker performs work outside the usual course of the company's business, and (C) the worker is customarily engaged in an independently established trade. Misclassification allows employers to avoid paying overtime, providing benefits, covering workers' comp insurance, and making payroll tax contributions.
California Labor Code Section 203 requires employers to pay all wages owed immediately upon involuntary termination, or within 72 hours if the employee quits without notice (immediately if 72 hours' notice was given). Each day the wages remain unpaid triggers a penalty equal to one day's pay, up to a maximum of 30 days.
Most wage claims have a three-year statute of limitations. Claims under the Unfair Competition Law (B&P Code § 17200) have four years. PAGA claims must be filed within one year. Act quickly to preserve the maximum recovery period.
If your employer is stealing your wages, you don't have to tolerate it. California law provides powerful remedies, and employers who violate these laws can be held liable for far more than just the unpaid wages. Call Khehra Law Corporation at (661) 383-9387 for a free, confidential consultation.