labor and employment
Labor and employment involves disputes between employers and employees. California has created strict laws governing wages, overtime, vacation and sick time, the work environment. All disputes involving these issues can easily be brought before a local state agency instead of going through court. Sometimes cases are brought in State or Federal Court, but these are usually not necessary unless there has been some very egregious violations.
We are very familiar with the state and federal employment laws. Most of our clients are employers, but we also represent employees. The most common labor and employment cases that we see in our office involves family owned Chinese restaurants. These owners often hire cooks, waiters and waitresses, busboys, and dish washers who speak very little English and are paid at minimum wage. The problem is that such establishments have a very primitive method of work-time records keeping. Punch cards are almost never used. Therefore, disgruntled employees can easily claim lack of payment, lack of overtime payment, or lack of vacation time. Information spreads quickly and we have encountered little scams where an employment in such a situation is informed that he/she can take advantage of an employer with poor records keeping to obtain a big payout. If you are such an employer, you are at risk unless you change your practices. We often say that a case is won before the claim even arises. In other words, it is best to take action to prevent a case rather than wait until a case happens. We can help you to protect your business and eliminate possible employment problems before they arise.
