Los Angeles Fair Labor Standards Act Lawyer

Every worker deserves a fair wage. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) is a federal law that protects employees’ rights and establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, and several other labor standards for employers. The State of California expands these protections, offering some of the strongest worker protections in the United States.

At LNN Trial Lawyers, we believe that issues with fair pay should not be tolerated. You could have legal recourse if you were denied fair wages, required to work overtime without sufficient pay, or misclassified as an independent contractor. Our Los Angeles Fair Labor Standards Act lawyer could help you fight unfair practices and recover lost wages and other damages. Our attorneys are experienced in a wide range of employment issues and have an in-depth knowledge of the FLSA and its requirements. Contact us today to find out how we could help.

How the Fair Labor Standards Act Protects Workers

The FLSA sets various standards for employers in order to protect workers’ wage and hour rights. Federal law establishes a minimum wage that an employer can pay their workers. This rate is currently $7.25 per hour.

The FLSA also outlines how overtime pay must work. An employer is required to pay 1.5 times a nonexempt employee’s regular hourly rate for any hours over 40 that they worked in a workweek. The protections established within the FLSA are extended to nonexempt employees. Exempt employees, like executives and some salaried workers, are not entitled to overtime pay.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is tasked with enforcing the FLSA. Workers may file complaints with the DOL against their employer for violating wage laws. Los Angeles residents may choose to file a complaint with California’s Labor Commissioner’s Office due to the fact that California’s labor laws can be more protective of employees. Our attorneys in Los Angeles are experienced in FLSA requirements and can help determine which path forward best serves a client’s interests.

Common Wage Violations

Even with the protections granted to workers by the FLSA and California’s labor laws, many employers violate wage and hour laws. Whether these violations are intentional or a result of ignorance of the relevant laws, our lawyers could help with several common FLSA violations that workers may face in Los Angeles.

An employer may violate the law by paying employees less than the minimum wage. However, a minimum wage violation may not be as simple as failing to pay a legal hourly rate. It could also occur when an employer fails to pay an employee for all hours worked or misclassifies an employee as a tipped worker or independent contractor.

Unpaid overtime is another common wage violation. An employee may have a valid legal claim if they were not paid 1.5 times their regular rate for hours worked over eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. Employers must pay double-time for hours over 12 worked in a day.

The law requires employers to reimburse employees for work-related expenses, and failure to do so is a violation of the FLSA. Withholding final paychecks from employees immediately upon termination, delaying payment, or failing to compensate employees for unused vacation days also violates the FLSA.

Key FLSA Matters That LNN Can Address

FLSA matters rarely affect only one of several employees, and multiple workers can have near-identical Fair Labor Standards Act claims against the same employer. In this situation, our FLSA attorneys in Los Angeles can file a class action lawsuit to pursue all employee claims simultaneously. Collective class action proceedings often have a greater impact because they expose a lawyer to significantly greater liability for monetary damages, which can encourage prompt and fair settlements of FLSA claims.

Class actions, however, are significantly more complex and require the skills of an attorney who can get a class certified at the outset of any litigation. LNN’s lawyers can show the validity of a class with proof that:

The number of claimants is too large for claims to be handled separately
All of the workers have common or similar claims against an employer
The claims of the main worker named in the lawsuit are typical of all other claims
One worker can adequately represent the grievances of all other similarly situated employees
All the workers have common issues that predominate over any one employee’s specific grievance.

In addition to pursuing multiple FLSA claims through a class action process, LNN’s attorneys have particular expertise in analyzing how employers establish an employee’s regular pay rate for overtime calculations and verifying that bonuses, late shift premiums, and other work-related incentives affect that pay rate.

We also protect employees against potential employer retaliation after an FLSA action is started by working with the employee to maintain detailed records of interactions and incidents with management and reporting threats and other adverse actions to employment agencies.

Further, we scrutinize all employer conduct to identify evidence of the employer’s willful violations or breaches of FLSA standards, which can be used to extend filing deadlines and justify larger damages awards.

Our FLSA Lawyers Challenge Employers’ Good Faith Defenses

Our experienced Fair Labor Standards Act lawyers know that Los Angeles employers will inevitably respond to FLSA claims by arguing that they took all actions regarding employee pay in good faith, and not with an intention of violating their workers’ FLSA rights. To justify a good faith defense, an employer needs to show by a preponderance of evidence that it had sound reasons to believe that its actions complied with FLSA requirements and that its actions were reasonable in comparison to the practices and procedures of similarly situated employers.

Our attorneys are particularly adept at challenging and defeating good faith defenses with strategies such as:

Showing that the employer deferred to assumptions or conclusions reached by middle managers, rather than referring critical FLSA questions to their internal legal counsel
Demonstrating that the employer failed to conduct periodic FLSA audits or to train human resources and other personnel in FLSA matters
Highlighting an employer’s disregard for inconsistencies, comments from supervisors, and other red flags that should have raised FLSA concerns
Emphasizing instances of non-conformance with regulations imposed by the Department of Labor (DOL).

The greater purposes of the FLSA and DOL regulations are simple and straightforward, but pursuing your FLSA rights is a complex process that requires help from knowledgeable legal counsel. LNN’s lawyers have developed their in-depth knowledge through their representation of countless workers who have relied on our expertise to enforce their FLSA rights.

Call an FLSA Attorney for Help With a Wage Issue in Los Angeles

At LNN Trial Lawyers, we believe in fair pay and the protection of worker rights. Our Los Angeles Fair Labor Standards Act lawyers could assist you if you believe your employer has engaged in a wage violation. You could be entitled to back pay and damages. Contact us to discuss your case and learn how we could help you.