California Labor & Discrimination Lawyers

Standing up for local California employees one person at a time. Standing on the shoulders of a powerful national law firm.

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Whether you need a Los Angeles Employment Attorney, a Southern California Employment Attorney covering other areas, or an Employment Lawyer for any other region in the state, Consumer Attorneys has you covered.

There’s no power imbalance as outrageously unfair as the one between an employer and an employee. But if you’re searching online for a California Employment Litigation Attorney, you already understand this fact.

Your job is everything to you and your family. Working hard is how you afford housing, food, clothing, transportation, medical care, school supplies, utilities, and even money to spend on fun things, too.

Work should be a safe place where your rights and dignity are respected. Unfortunately, many workers in California are subjected to unlawful treatment, discrimination, exploitation, or harassment, causing them undue stress and often forcing them out of stable jobs. Whether it's facing bias for being a part of the LGBTQ+ community, enduring inappropriate sexist or racist comments, being unfairly dismissed because of a disability, or being shorted money you are rightfully owed, too many employees face harmful and illegal practices.

When you’re trapped in an employment nightmare, being exploited, undervalued, overworked, underpaid, discriminated against, sexually harassed, denied FMLA, or retaliated against for speaking up, literally everything is at stake.

Our team of California Employment Attorneys from Encino helps clients navigate every toxic workplace situation imaginable, from labor and employment disputes over unpaid wages and overtime to discrimination and retaliation situations based on bigotry, stereotypes, and disrespect.

What is Labor and Employment Law?

Labor Law

Labor law governs the relationships between employers and organized labor, such as unions. It involves union activities and the negotiation of wages, hours, and working conditions. Labor law ensures that unions and employers maintain a balanced power dynamic, preventing unfair labor practices and ensuring workers have a voice in their employment conditions. So, labor law attorneys for employees cover all of the categories that fall under this area.

Employment Law

Employment law focuses on individual relationships between employers and employees. This area focuses heavily on anti-discrimination laws, workplace safety regulations, wrongful termination protections, and every aspect of wage, hour, overtime, and equal pay disputes. Employment law is in place to ensure that employees are treated fairly, protected from harassment and discrimination, and have access to benefits and accommodations that they are entitled to.

Some Labor and Employment attorneys represent an exploited employee one day and an exploitative employer the next, with no allegiance to doing what’s right. At Consumer Attorneys, representing the people is our ONLY focus. This is why we’re America’s largest credit reporting law firm, fighting uncaring credit bureaus and callous background check companies on behalf of consumers harmed by their mistakes. And it’s why our national employment law practice is a coast-to-coast powerhouse! 

We are advocates for the individual. For the people. For YOU. We restore fairness, safety, and equity to the workplace, one employee at a time. We help real people harmed by real employment problems, and NEVER help the employers or corporations who create them.

Types of California Employment Law We Can Help With

Anything and Everything!

Our experience as a national litigation firm, active consumer advocates, and legal thought leaders means that we know how to apply every relevant federal law to each individual employment situation. If you’re suffering from stress, anxiety, sleeplessness, fear, worry, income loss, economic exploitation, or more, we can help you! 

And since employee rights are also heavily impacted by the laws of the state where you live, we have a highly nuanced knowledge of the best Los Angeles Employment Attorney practices to build the strongest case possible and get you back to where you deserve to be as quickly as possible. We believe in the people, which is why we are lawyers for employees’ rights and protection.

Below are some problems our attorneys from Encino can assist with.

The Laws that Protect Your Rights as an Employee

Federal, state, and local laws apply and sometimes enhance protections, depending on the specific area where you live. The laws referenced below are just a small glimpse into the full picture of legal protections available.

Wage & Hour Disputes

• California Minimum Wage Rights: Several different California laws work together to create the state’s legal minimum for hourly workers. The current minimum wage for Los Angeles is $16 per hour state-wide for everyone, but local municipalities may have higher minimums, and fast-food workers have a $20 per hour minimum. Some employers try to find creative ways to avoid meeting this requirement.
• California Overtime Pay: California has specific overtime laws, including California Labor Code 510, that specify when certain hours and situations trigger the obligation to pay an employee time and a half or even double the regular rate. Some employers intentionally misclassify employees as salaried to avoid this obligation or play games with tracking or allotting hours.
• California Meal and Rest Break Rights: Under California Labor Code 512 and other laws, employees have the right to allotted meal and rest breaks triggered by a certain number of hours worked. Some employers attempt to push breaks to the end of a shift or intimidate employees away from using their legally sanctioned breaks.
• California Improper Paycheck Deductions: There are only certain specified things that can be deducted from a paycheck. Some employers intentionally or mistakenly make inappropriate deductions. There are circumstances under which an employer can deduct wages from an employee's paycheck, and certain wage garnishments are permitted, but these activities are highly regulated under several laws, including California Labor Code 221 & 224.
• California Pay Stub and Pay Rate Rights: Not only do employers have to pay employees what they’re rightfully entitled to under minimum wage, overtime, and deduction laws, but they must also follow legal guidelines under California Labor Code 226 for how this information is presented to their employees. This helps ensure that all regulations are being met and that each employee understands very clearly why they get paid what they get paid.

Unpaid Wages & Overtime

• California Unpaid Wages: Employers must pay their employees on time, and they are subject to fines and penalties for failing to meet this standard under California Labor Law 210. Employers can be subject to fines and penalties for not paying earned wages. This also applies to “final” wages when an employee leaves a job or contract. Unpaid wages attorneys are highly adept at navigating this sometimes complicated legal terrain.
• California Unpaid Overtime: The prohibition on the withholding of wages similarly applies to any wages earned at overtime rates and complements California Labor Code 510. As a rule, if you’ve earned it, you are entitled to receive it. The California overtime lawyers at Consumer Attorneys can help you recover what you’re rightfully owed.

Equal Pay

• California Equal Pay: The California Equal Pay Act legally requires an employer to pay its employees of the opposite sex the same rate for the same work. Some employers try to get around this law by essentially pretending that one job is somehow meaningfully different than another, but it is possible for courts to determine that job responsibilities, experience, and talent are substantially the same for different jobs, even if the job titles are different.

Retaliation

• California Retaliation Laws: The California legislature passed legal measures to protect employees who speak up and speak out about unfair pay, discrimination, or any other affirmative employee rights issue. Senate Bill 497 creates a legal presumption of retaliation by the employer if certain actions are taken within 90 days of the employee’s attempt to enforce legal protections under the labor code.

Whistleblower

• California Whistleblower Laws: Both federal and state protections apply to whistleblowers, which are people who report employers for allowing or creating circumstances that amount to systemic illegal activity or a threat to public health and safety. This includes things like reporting an employer for abuse, corruption, fraud, waste of public funds, environmental destruction, exploitation of a vulnerable population, cover-ups, etc. If you’re in a scenario like this, you’ll need a whistleblower attorney in California, and Consumer Attorneys from Encino can help.

Discrimination

California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, along with others on the state and federal level, creates significant protections for employees subject to discrimination, sexual harassment, firings, hiring refusals, promotion denials, or any other form of unjust behavior based on certain protected characteristics, beliefs, statuses, etc. Some of the most common areas of discrimination that we can help with, include:

This means that whether you're looking for a Los Angeles age discrimination lawyer, a sexual harassment lawyer in Los Angeles, or a Encino lawyer for any other discriminatory treatment in the workplace, Consumer Attorneys can help.

Wrongful Termination

• California Wrongful Termination: This umbrella term covers being fired for basically every other reason identified as grounds for a legal claim under labor and employment law. If an employee is fired due to discrimination or retaliation for speaking up for workplace fairness, justice, or equal pay, then California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, along with others on the state and federal level, creates significant protections. Our Los Angeles wrongful termination lawyers are well-versed in the laws that help protect your rights and get your career back on track.

FMLA & CFRA Denials

• California Leave Denials: The California Family Rights Act (CFRA), along with the FMLA, supports the right to fair and reasonable leave requests that fall within the purview of the law. This can include maternity/paternity leave (including for adoption), personal medical leave, or family-care-related leave.

Are There Limits on How Long You Have to Sue an Employer in California?

Yes! There are time limits, also known as statutes of limitations, that determine how long an employee has to file a lawsuit against an employer who has violated any of the relevant labor and employment laws. While there is some variance in these time limits, depending on the specific facts of the case, the laws in question, and other factors, it is generally true that an employee has the following time limits:

• 1 year from when an employee receives a “Right to Sue” notice.
• 3 years from non-payment for employee wage disputes.

It is nearly impossible to overstate the value of legal experience when it comes to navigating your way through the complexities and nuances of the law. This is especially true when you’re going up against your employer, and your career, income, and well-being are on the line.

Let us put our training, experience, knowledge, and talents to work for you. You can trust us to take it from here.

Which Lawyer Should I Hire?

Choose one of our Los Angeles employment attorneys with a proven track record in handling high-stakes wage and hour cases, discrimination cases, and others, including securing significant recoveries for employees affected by wage theft. Avoid lawyers who rush through cases, resulting in inadequate compensation for wronged workers. If employers refuse reasonable settlements, ensure your lawyer has the courtroom experience to prosecute your claim effectively. Our labor and employment attorneys offer the experience and trial advocacy needed to recover what you are owed.

What Are the Key Stats About Labor and Employment Lawsuits?

Americans file thousands of employment-related complaints annually and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) keeps track of important statistics. Here are just a few you might find interesting.

• The EEOC received 81,055 new charges of discrimination in 2023, a more than 10% increase over the number of charges filed the previous year.
• A study by the EEOC found that thousands of women reported having experienced sexual harassment in the workplace and that 78% of the sexual harassment claims between 2018 and 2021 were filed by women.
• Between 2017 and 2020, more than 20,000 wage theft complaints were filed, and over $3 billion in stolen wages were recovered on behalf of workers, according to the United States Department of Labor.
• In 2019, more than 72,000 employment discrimination charges were filed with the EEOC.
• Employment discrimination, a significant aspect of civil rights law, accounted for nearly a third of all federal workplace civil rights lawsuits from 1997 to 2017.

You Can Reach Us In Our Encino Office