California is now the fifth largest economy in the world. Let that sink in for a moment. Not the fifth largest in the United States. In. The. Whole. World. In terms of numbers, California’s healthy economy is estimated to generate a gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.7 trillion. This means that we have just overtaken the entire United Kingdom, which is estimated at $2.6 trillion. Long live the Queen.
A world class economy means that the state has a world class number of employers. And the more employers a states has, the more jobs exist. In fact, driving by the agriculture and livestock industries, the tech industry, and the unparalleled entertainment industry, California is heavily reliant on an enormous workforce of hard working employees.
Unfortunately, an economy of this size also translates into a disproportionate level of employee rights violations. Yet far from the days of the Wild West, just because California is massive does not mean that it is lawless. In fact, California boasts some of the strongest employee right’s laws in the nation—making it one of the most litigated places on Earth. Some of these critical rights include the right to work free of:
- Wage and overtime violations. The law requires that employers pay employees the highest minimum wage available and to pay overtime wages for more than 40 hours worked per week. In addition, there are specific laws as to how commissions, tips, bonuses, earned leave, and on-call work are paid. An employer’s failure to timely pay an employee ALL of the wages that the employee has earned amounts to wage theft.
- Discrimination and harassment. If you are part of a protected class (i.e. race, sex, age, religion, disability, color, national origin), then you are protected from adverse employment decisions that are made based on your status.
- You are entitled to engage in lawful activities without fear of retaliation by your employer. This includes whistleblowing when you have a belief of unlawful activity, refusing to engage in illegal activities, and making a claim or filing a lawsuit based on a violation of your legal rights.
- Misclassification as exempt or as an independent contractor. Employers don’t have to comply with wage and overtime laws for workers who are exempt from the law or are not employees. This saves employers a ton of money, and is therefore an incentive for improper classifications.
Call Moss Bollinger to Fight For You
You have many rights as an employee in California. This includes the right to be classified properly and to be paid in accordance with wage and overtime laws. If you have worked for Terminix in the last three years as a technician, you may be entitled to damages. This is the result of Terminix classifying Technicians as exempt employees in order to avoid paying minimum wage, paying overtime, and providing rest breaks. At Moss Bollinger, we will get to the bottom of this situation and help determine whether you are entitled to damages. Let us fight for you. We work on a contingency basis. Call Moss Bollinger today at (866) 535-2994 to schedule a free consultation or submit our online form.