Although it is possible that employees’ hour calculations mismatch the actual amount of hours an employee worked, which leads to unpaid hours, it is not uncommon that some companies or managers purposefully try to cheat workers out of their rightfully earned wages. In legal terms, this is known as wage theft and it is an unfortunately common issue that can affect multiple hires by one same employee. Some of the most common causes for unpaid hours include:
Failure to calculate overtime pay
According to California laws, employees must be paid 1.5 times their regular pay rate if they work more than 8 hours a week. This payment increases up to double rates for all hours worked above 12 in a workday and for all hours worked above 8 on the seventh consecutive day in a workweek. In many wage theft claims, employees and their attorneys are able to find that mismatched rates are the product of either miscalculated hours or falsified hour records.
Complicated or defective time-entry apps
Many employees have defaulted to using apps and tools that calculate work time and pay rates for their employees. Though useful, these entry tools can sometimes be overly complicated or misleading to employees, resulting in unpaid wages. Additionally, some employees purposely set up these tools so that they “fail” to account for certain wages.
Misleading workers about their basic wage and hour rights
Unfortunately, many employers use dishonest hiring practices when it comes to informing employees of what wages they will be forfeiting, and they will often resist any attempts to get clear information when you try to address them on the topic. In order to avoid this happening to you, you should contact a California employment law attorney if you are having some wages unpaid by your employer.
No matter if your unpaid wages are due to an employer’s honest mistake or the result of any ill-intended scheming, you have a right to see your full earned wages, and there are legal actions that can guarantee you get the pay you are owed.