Los Angeles Wage & Hour LawyersLos Angeles Wage &
Hour Lawyers
Your Rightful Pay Recovery Starts Here
If your employer withheld overtime pay, denied meal breaks, misclassified your employment status, or committed wage theft in Los Angeles or across California, Midtown Law Group is here to fight for every dollar you earned.
Free Consultation →Los Angeles Wage & Hour Attorney
California enforces some of the strictest wage and hour protection laws in the nation. Unfortunately, wage theft remains widespread across many industries—ranging from tech startups and hospitality to health care and logistics.
At Midtown Law Group, our wage and hour attorneys hold employers accountable for withholding hard-earned compensation. Whether your employer denied daily overtime, forced off-the-clock labor, stole tips, or misclassified you as an exempt employee or 1099 contractor, we recover unpaid wages, interest, and statutory penalties on your behalf.
We represent workers facing wage violations including:
- Unpaid daily and weekly overtime
- Double time pay violations (over 12 hours)
- Minimum wage shortfalls & unpaid hours
- Off-the-clock prep, cleanup, or travel time
- Missed 30-min meal and 10-min rest breaks
- Salaried exempt misclassification
- Independent contractor (1099) misclassification
- Illegal tip stealing & manager tip pooling
- Unreimbursed mandatory business expenses
We also represent groups of employees in class action and PAGA (Private Attorneys General Act) wage recovery lawsuits across California.
Midtown Law Group: Your Los Angeles Wage Theft Advocates
Employers often rely on complex pay structures, inaccurate timecards, or title inflation to mask wage theft. Midtown Law Group conducts thorough financial audits of company payroll practices.
Under California Labor Code § 226, employers are legally required to maintain accurate, itemized wage statements and time records. When employers fail to keep records, California law shifts the evidentiary burden to protect the employee's estimates.
Our legal team reviews:
- Itemized paystubs and wage statements
- Electronic badge logs and timecard data
- Work schedules and shift assignments
- Commission and bonus plan contracts
- Tip log registers and tip pool policies
- Email, chat, and phone login timestamps
- Actual daily duties vs. job descriptions
- Expense receipts and mileage logs
We fight for interest on unpaid wages, waiting time penalties (up to 30 days of full wages), and mandatory attorney fee awards paid by the employer.
Why Hiring a Wage & Hour Attorney Matters
An experienced Los Angeles wage theft lawyer can help you:
- Audit complex payroll records and calculate accurate overtime and double-time multipliers.
- Recover 1-hour premium pay for every missed or interrupted meal/rest break.
- Secure waiting time penalties under Labor Code § 203 for delayed final paychecks.
- Challenge illegal independent contractor misclassifications under California AB 5.
- Protect you against employer retaliation or termination under Labor Code § 98.6.
- Ensure employer pays your legal fees so you keep maximum back pay.
- File PAGA representative claims or class actions for widespread workplace violations.
Practice Areas
Have questions about your paystubs or unpaid overtime? Our legal team is available for a free consultation.
Every Case Is Unique.
We're Ready for All of Them.
Unpaid Overtime & Double Time
In California, nonexempt employees are entitled to 1.5x overtime pay for working over 8 hours in a workday or 40 hours in a workweek, plus double time (2x) for over 12 hours in a workday. Employers cannot average hours across workweeks.
Minimum Wage Violations
California state and Los Angeles city/county laws enforce strict minimum hourly rates. Paying less, failing to pay for all hours worked, illegal deductions, or misusing tip credits constitutes unlawful wage theft.
Off-the-Clock Work
Employers must pay for all time required, allowed, or known to be worked—including pre-shift prep, post-shift cleanup, answering messages after hours, or working through unpaid meal breaks.
Salaried Misclassification
Receiving a salary does not automatically make an employee exempt from overtime. In California, strict salary thresholds and duty tests must be satisfied before an employer can legally deny overtime pay.
Independent Contractor Misclassification
Under California AB 5 and the 'ABC Test', many workers labeled 1099 independent contractors are legally employees entitled to minimum wage, overtime, meal breaks, and expense reimbursements.
Tip Theft & Meal/Rest Break Premiums
California law strictly prohibits managers or owners from taking employee tips or participating in tip pools. Employers must also provide compliant 30-min meal and 10-min rest breaks or pay 1-hour premium pay.
Key California Wage & Hour Considerations
California labor statutes provide stringent wage recovery mechanisms, including statutory penalties, waiting time damages, interest, and fee-shifting provisions.
California Overtime & Double Time Rules
California requires overtime pay of 1.5x regular rate for work exceeding 8 hours in a workday, 40 hours in a workweek, or the first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive workday. Double time (2x regular rate) is required for hours exceeding 12 in a single workday or exceeding 8 on the 7th consecutive day.
Meal & Rest Break Premium Penalties
Employers must provide a 30-minute uninterrupted meal break before the end of the 5th hour of work and a paid 10-minute rest break for every 4 hours worked. For each workday an employer fails to provide a compliant break, it owes the employee 1 hour of regular pay as a statutory premium penalty.
Employee vs. Independent Contractor (AB 5)
Under California's "ABC Test", a worker is presumed to be an employee unless the employer proves the worker is free from control, performs work outside the core business, and operates an independent business. Misclassified contractors can recover back overtime, meal break penalties, and business expenses.
Calculating Total Back Pay & Penalties
Unpaid wage claims encompass far more than the base salary amount. Recoverable damages and penalties include:
- Unpaid base & overtime compensation
- Double-time wage adjustments
- 1-hour meal break premium penalties
- 1-hour rest break premium penalties
- Waiting time penalties (up to 30 days pay)
- Wage statement penalties (Labor Code § 226)
- Pre-judgment interest (10% per annum)
- Mandatory attorney's fees & audit costs
Statutes of Limitations for California Wage Claims
Under California Code of Civil Procedure § 338 and Business & Professions Code § 17200 (Unfair Competition Law), employees can recover unpaid wages going back 3 to 4 years from the date of filing.
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My employer claimed I was exempt from overtime despite working 60 hours a week. Midtown Law Group audited my pay records and recovered three years of back pay plus penalties.
Frequently Asked Questions
Wage theft occurs when an employer fails to pay an employee the full compensation required by law or contract. Examples include unpaid overtime, minimum wage violations, off-the-clock work, tip theft, illegal paycheck deductions, employee misclassification, missed meal/rest break premiums, and unpaid commissions.
Los Angeles enforces high local minimum wage rates (exceeding $17.28/hr depending on city/county jurisdiction and hotel/healthcare sector rules). California also strictly prohibits tip credits against minimum wage—meaning tipped employees must receive full minimum wage before tips.
Possibly! Receiving a salary does not automatically make an employee exempt from overtime. To be legally exempt in California, an employee must satisfy both the 'salary basis test' (earning at least two times the state minimum wage for full-time work) and specific, rigorous executive, administrative, or professional duties tests.
Unlike federal law which only counts weekly hours over 40, California law requires daily overtime: nonexempt employees earn 1.5x pay for hours worked over 8 in a workday (or over 40 in a workweek), 1.5x pay for the first 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day of work, and 2.0x (double time) for hours worked over 12 in a single workday.
Yes. An employer must pay for work it requires, allows, or knows an employee is performing. This includes completing pre-shift prep, post-shift cleanup, answering emails or texts, waiting for security checks, or finishing tasks after clocking out.
In California, nonexempt employees are entitled to an uninterrupted 30-minute unpaid meal break for shifts over 5 hours. If an employee is required to remain on call, answer phones, or perform any duty during the break, the break must be paid as hours worked, PLUS the employer owes a 1-hour pay penalty for the missed break.
No. Under California Labor Code § 351, tips belong solely to the employee(s) who rendered the service. Owners, managers, and supervisors with authority to hire, fire, or schedule are strictly barred from taking any portion of employee tips or participating in tip pools.
An employer can give you a 1099, but that label does not determine your legal status. Under California's 'ABC Test' (AB 5 / Labor Code § 2750.3), most workers are legally presumed to be employees unless the company proves the worker is free from control, performs work outside the usual course of business, and operates an independent trade.
No! California Labor Code § 98.6 strictly prohibits employers from retaliating against, disciplining, demoting, or firing an employee for inquiring about wages, reporting wage theft, or filing a claim with the Labor Commissioner or in court.
