Posted By Bay Area Intifada

Written By Jabar

Having spent over 10 years in the service industry I can confidently say that 80% of restaurants are stealing from you one way or another. In some cases my employers stole from me secretly by shaving down my hours at the end of the night so I wouldn’t get paid properly for skipping breaks or working overtime. Sometimes they told me to my face that they shaved hours to keep the corporate office off their backs claiming that if they didn’t shave hours they would “have to fire employees because of labor costs”. Hearing this type of thing from multi-million dollar restaurants is both absurd and all too common. Common, because it works.

Most of the time I would get angry after a while and quit. I would swear to myself that I would make my employer pay, but the thought of hiring a lawyer and having to pay huge legal fees against a corporation was always too overwhelming. Recently I connected with Just Wages Network [JWN], a group focused on supporting workers with wage theft claims and they gave me the breakdown:

California Law and Wage Theft

According to California employment law, all workers – regardless of immigration status, gender, and other identities – are required to receive just compensation for their labor.

This means that employers are required to:

Pay 1 and 1⁄2 times the regular rate, when work exceeds 8 hours in a day or 40 in a week.

Pay double the wage for after 12 hours in a day, or after 8 hours on the 7th consecutive day.

Pay minimum wage, at least $8 an hour, and, starting in July 2014, $9 an hour, for all time at work.

Keep track of all hours worked by an employee, and pay at least minimum wage.

Provide an uninterrupted 30 minute break for each 5 hours worked, & a 10-minute break for each 4 hours.

To pay 1 hour of regular wages each day when an employee is not able to take a 10-minute rest break.

To pay 1 hour of regular wages each day when an employee is not able to take a 30 minute meal break.

If you or someone you know is currently working in the service industry, chances are you are being ripped off. I’d recommend getting even… and getting paid in the process. For general questions about wage theft or to have a free consultation contact Just Wages Network [JWN]:



Email: Justwagesnetwork@gmail.com

Phone: (510) 703-1380

Or Contact Bay Area Intifada:

Email: bayareaintifada@riseup.net

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