Employee Wages and Wrongful Termination
Our attorneys can help you in a wage dispute to recover overtime pay or unpaid sales commissions, or in cases regarding improper classification as an independent contract, and in other violations of the law. These and other regulations exist to help ensure that you receive the pay you have rightfully earned. Shegerian & Associates can help ensure that you receive withheld pay and other allowances owed to you.
Employers face severe penalties for retaliating against employees who pursue their wages, overtime pay and other benefits. Employers cannot terminate, demote, or otherwise harass employees because they seek a fair wage. To protect employees, statutes provide for damages, injunctive relief, and monitoring the employer's behavior, interest, and attorneys' fees.
If you are terminated or denied benefits because of a complaint to an employer, then you have recourse to take action against said employer. Shegerian & Associates offers experience with California labor law, and our lawyers can defend you if you are terminated illegally.
Vacation Pay
Shegerian & Associates can also assist you with recovering vacation pay. California Labor Law states that it is illegal for employers to institute a "use it or lose it" provision regarding vacation time. For example, if you accumulate 10 vacation days and decide not to use them until the following year, it is illegal for your employer to take away the vacation time without pay. However, employers can limit the amount of accumulated vacation and can control when and for how many days you take vacation. If an employer offers vacation benefits, the employer must follow state regulations.
When an employee leaves his or her employment, all accrued vacation time must be paid at the employee’s final rate of pay in accordance with the employer's vacation policies. Along the same lines, an employer cannot have a policy under which an employee forfeits vacation time if not used by a specified date.
Employers that do not have vacation plans that comport with the requirements of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) are in violation of California law.
Commission Wages
Employees can earn commissions through the sale of a product or service but not the making of a product or rendering of a service. In order to be a commission, the compensation must be a percentage of the price of the product or service sold. The person receiving the commission must be principally involved in selling the goods or the services from which the commission arises. Commission plans that refer to a percentage of a business, such as the cost of the goods sold by the business, do not constitute commission wages.
Commissions arise out of agreements between the employer and employee and are not required by law. How they are computed also is determined by the agreement, but deductions against commissions are limited by labor law.
Employee Tips
A tip is money a customer leaves for an employee over the amount due for the goods sold or services rendered. Tips belong to the employee, not to the employer. If a customer tips on a credit card, the tip must be paid to the employee no later than the next regular pay day following the date of credit card authorization. Employers cannot take any credit card processing fees from the tips.
Wrongful Termination, Discrimination, Retaliation
Shegerian & Associates labor lawyers represent employees in wrongful termination cases. If you have been discriminated against, been the victim of employer retaliation when pursuing wages owed to you, or if your employer has breached an employment contract, contact one of our attorneys to discuss the nature of your claim.