California Labor Law Violations: Last-Day Pay and More…
When the bakery hired Michelle - who is a cake decorator and has a culinary arts degree - last December, she wouldn’t have taken the job if it paid minimum wage, mainly because she had to drive one hour each way to work. “When I got my first paycheck I thought my hours were short but HR said I had to start at minimum wage because I was a new employee. After one month the manager sent me to the other bakery where I was supposed to start baking and decorating. Instead I was on customer service for five months.
“I pretty much stuck with the job, hoping it would turn into a better position. Many things improved and we started doing ‘market night,’ like a farmers market where local vendors sell their wares. The first night the manager's friend, who wasn't on payroll, was working. Everything I did was wrong in his eyes. Instead of arguing I stepped back and waited for either one of them to tell me what to do. Later that evening, my co-worker had to run back to the bakery for coffee and she left the cash box with me. ‘You aren't supposed to touch the cash box,’ my manager screamed at me in public - how embarrassing.
“Market night was an 11-hour shift without lunch. I found out that after five hours you are supposed to be paid time and a half, but we were only paid overtime after eight hours. A few days before the market night, we informed our manager that we weren't able to take a lunch break with this kind of set up. 'No problem,' she said, which we interpreted as getting overtime pay. (My fiancé and I checked the hours and overtime compensation with the California labor board and it clearly states overtime is due when you work through lunch…
“The next day my schedule was changed and I was sent back to the first bakery. When I talked to a co-worker, she informed me that I was “getting a second chance’ but at the same time, I was very talented and a good worker. I asked her if I was possibly getting fired. Apparently my work wasn't very professional at market night, but I was getting all this instruction from the “friend.’ I think that no matter what I did, it wouldn’t have been correct.
“Over the last three weeks I worked at both bakeries which meant more travel time. And I was given tasks that were making it impossible to do in one shift. A few days before Easter we were extremely busy and one night I worked overnight. My shift was supposed to be 1am-9am. Instead I worked until 1:30 pm - 12.5 hours. Again, I only got time and-a-half over eight hours, and again without lunch. My manager said I could take my lunch while making a delivery to the other bakery.
“The next night the same thing happened again, and at the end of my shift my manager asked if I could work longer.
“I didn’t know that they were violating the California labor law until last week, when they fired me. I have no idea why I was fired. ‘I want you to come in tomorrow and decorate and I will call you with your schedule,’ my manager said. I finally phoned her. ‘I removed you from the schedule permanently and we no longer need your services,’ she told me. When I picked up my belongings, my coworker said I was fired because I was ‘no longer a good fit.’
“Going through the California labor code, I found out employers are supposed to pay you right away when you are terminated. But it's been more than a week, and I still haven't received my last paycheck.
“I also heard that it is illegal to fire someone over the phone. According to my mother, the employee has to be called in and then released person-to-person. But she works at Chevron, so maybe that is Chevron’s rule…
“As for overtime, I am waiting to hear back from a wage and hour attorney to find out if I am legally allowed to request my time cards and all payroll information pertaining to me. And I am going to speak with an attorney before I phone the California labor board so I don't screw up anything with my case.”
No Comments