Most wage and hour matters in California provide remedies in addition to the actual unpaid wage or damage in the form of Labor Code penalties. I will describe some of the more common penalties below.
WAITING TIME PENALTY
When an employee separates from an employer, whether by termination or resignation, he/she must be paid all wages that are owed at the time of separation. If fired, the employee is entitled to all wages owed at the time of his or her termination. If resigning, he or she must be paid all wages due within 72 hours of resigning. If all wages are not paid within these time constraints, the employee, in addition to being able to recover all wages he or she is owed, is also entitled to a waiting time penalty. California's waiting time penalty entitles the employee to receive up to 30 days of wages, which means just that - thirty days of wages, not just one month's pay.
ITEMIZED WAGE STATEMENT PENALTY
While working for any employer, every employee must receive wage statements that are properly itemized, which means the pay stub must contain certain specific items of information, most commonly the employee's gross wages, net wages, total hours worked, commission rate, piece-rate, pay periods covered by the check, and all deductions withheld, among other items. An employer's failure to provide pay checks with stubs containing this information may be liable for an itemized wage statement penalty. Such a penalty results in a penalty of $50 for the first violation, $100 for each subsequent violation - up to $4000 per employee.
MEAL AND REST BREAKS
If lunch breaks or rest breaks are not provided as required by California law, claimants are entitled to more than just the unpaid wage for working through the lunch or rest break, they are also entitled to one hour of pay for each workday that a lawful meal break or rest break was not provided.
MINIMUM WAGE PENALTIES
If an employer fails to pay an employee the California mandated minimum wage rate (currently $8 per hour), the penalty is $100 to each underpaid employee for the first violation, $250 to each employee for each pay period thereafter when there is a violation or underpayment.
UNLAWFUL DEDUCTIONS
When an employer unlawfully collects or deducts monies from an employee's wages, either in the form of a penalty or other such deduction, the unlawful deduction penalty is $100 to each underpaid employee for the first violation and $200 to each employee for each pay period thereafter where this is such a deduction, plus 25% of the amount underpaid.
There are of course other Labor Code penalties, but I have found these to be among the most common.
