Wage and Hour

California has some of the most complicated wage and hour laws in the U.S., making new wage and hour cases a daily occurrence. Cook Brown has extensive experience in the area of wage and hour law, whether on an individual basis, or at the class action and PAGA level.

Class Action

Wage and hour litigation continues to escalate to epidemic proportions in California. Every form of business, large and small, for-profit and non-profit, is subject to potential liability for inadvertent mistakes in timekeeping, job classification, and payroll processing. The costs associated with wage and hour litigation can be staggering, especially in the class litigation context. Cook Brown attorneys are particularly adept at defending class and representative actions related to wage and pay matters in state and federal court, as well as arbitrations.

PAGA Defense

California’s Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) authorizes individual employees to sue employers for civil penalties on behalf of the state. Although PAGA was enacted to support the state’s efforts to police wage and hour violations, these benevolent intentions have led to unforeseen consequences for California businesses. Whereas the state’s enforcement efforts were traditionally focused on employers who willingly underpaid employees, PAGA enables private law firms to sue even compliant and conscientious employers for minor, technical Labor Code violations.

Prosecution of PAGA claims has become a lucrative specialty practice, leading to thousands of PAGA lawsuits each year. Cook Brown has been monitoring these developments on the legislative and judicial front since PAGA’s enactment to ensure its clients are armed to prevent and/or defend against PAGA claims. In every case, our attorneys aim to minimize client exposure, reduce PAGA liability, and minimize unnecessary attorneys’ fees. We work with clients to mitigate penalties from the outset of a case while, at the same time, assisting in formulating business strategies that help preclude future PAGA lawsuits.

Cook Brown will work with your team to mitigate penalties from the outset of the case.

Wage and Hour Audits

When confronting a wage-and-hour audit by a regulatory agency, employers must act quickly to gather pertinent records, interview witnesses, and determine exposure. Cook Brown has extensive experience assisting employers in prevailing on these audits.

Additionally, the best way to be prepared for a wage-and-hour investigation is to review your company’s current practices. Employers must not only be aware of all federal and state requirements but also have such information readily available. Cook Brown has experience providing personalized and proactive wage and hour solutions tailored to your business. Our attorneys advise employers on the policies and practices necessary to avoid the red flags that often trigger these enforcement actions.

• Record-keeping and retention requirements — personnel files, wage records, medical privacy;

• Exempt status — review positions for proper classification and independent contractor status;

• Time Off Practices — vacation, sick leave, PTO, holidays, military leave, crime victims, and other leaves of absence;

• Pay practices for nonexempt employees — on-call pay, split shifts, travel time, bonus payments and shift differentials in overtime calculations, etc.; and,

• Deductions of pay for salaried exempt employees

Minimum Wage and Overtime

California has one of the highest minimum wages and strictest overtime laws in the country. Compliance with wage and hour laws poses many challenges for employers, including:

• Properly calculating the regular rate for purposes of paying overtime;

• Properly calculating hours worked.

• Determining which Wage Order and other regulations and statutes apply to the employer’s industry or employee-base;

• Properly establishing an alternative workweek schedule;

• Determining the difference between exempt and non-exempt classifications

While the payment of wages may appear straightforward, wage compliance in California can be staggeringly complex. It is tremendously technical, depending upon the size and practices of a business, and at every level requires constant vigilance of the ever-changing regulatory landscape. Employees may either file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (the Labor Commissioner’s Office) or file a lawsuit in court against employers seeking back wages and waiting time penalties pursuant to Labor Code section 203. Cook Brown has extensive experience defending employers against wage claims and counseling employers on bringing payment practices into compliance with California’s evolving law.

Meal and Rest Periods

California law generally requires employers to provide non-exempt employees the opportunity to take meal and rest periods. Failure to comply can subject an employer to one hour of pay for every missed break. Although employers are not obligated to police employees to ensure they take breaks, employers must be able to demonstrate that duty-free breaks are readily available. Disputes concerning the availability of breaks have resulted in a tidal wave of litigation, whether on an individual or class action basis.

Cook Brown has extensive experience representing employers confronting meal and rest period claims, both in court and before the Labor Commissioner. Our attorneys work with clients on cost-effective measures to control litigation costs and reduce exposure, and routinely advise clients on recommended industry-specific meal and rest period policies and practices designed to help mitigate future litigation.

Compensable Hours Worked

Apart from overtime and minimum wage requirements, both state and federal law require employers to properly pay employees for all “hours worked.” Over the years, courts have determined that any activity during which an employee is under the employer’s control may constitute hours worked. Employee claims for back wages often include compensation for:

• Travel time;

• Loading tools and materials or other “off-the-clock” activities;

• Waiting time or on-call time (i.e., waiting to be engaged versus engaged to be waiting);

• Changin in and out of protective equipment and uniforms in the workplace, and other activities preparing for work;

• Required meetings, lectures, training, and team-building activities;

• Overnight travel

• Commute time between job sites.

Problems can arise if these issues are not addressed before the employee begins work. Cook Brown has solved this problem by counseling businesses on how to design and implement proper compliant policies and training employers on how to recognize and track compensable time witihin their industry. When disputes arise about hours worked, Cook Brown works with employers to prevent and defend such claims.