Wage Theft Program

Rights which are not enforced are rights that have no effect. In the Wage and Hour program the Center works to help low income workers enforce the law requiring that they be paid all of the wages they have earned.

To do this the Center represents workers who have not been paid part or all of their wages in claims before the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (the Labor Commissioner). The Center’s employment law attorney and a team law student clerks develop and prosecute these cases; beginning with fact and evidence development, and continuing through representation in a hearing before the Labor Commissioner.

These cases often involve the employer’s failure to pay minimum wage, failure to pay overtime, theft of gratuities (tips), failure to provide breaks (both rest breaks, and meal breaks), and refusal to pay a last check after a worker has quit or was fired.