Wage theft costs California workers billions every year. If your employer isn't paying you what you're owed, you have legal rights — and we know how to enforce them.
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Overview
Wage theft is one of the most pervasive forms of workplace injustice in California. It happens when employers fail to pay earned wages, overtime, meal and rest break premiums, or commissions. It happens when employers misclassify employees as independent contractors to avoid paying benefits. It happens when workers are required to perform tasks off the clock, before or after their shifts, without compensation.
The workers hit hardest are often the ones least equipped to fight back on their own — construction laborers, delivery drivers, warehouse workers, restaurant staff, agricultural workers, and others in low-wage industries where the power imbalance between employer and employee is greatest. That's where class actions and PAGA claims become essential. When an employer is stealing from one worker, they're almost always stealing from dozens or hundreds of others in the same way.
Arns Davis Law pursues wage theft cases as class actions and PAGA representative actions, recovering stolen wages and imposing penalties on employers who cheat their workers. We've taken on local contractors, national retailers, and companies across industries — and we've recovered millions for workers who were being shorted on their paychecks.
California has some of the strongest wage and hour protections in the country, including penalties for employers who fail to provide accurate wage statements, don't pay final wages on time, or retaliate against workers who assert their rights. We know these laws and we know how to use them. If you think you're not being paid correctly, call us — we can evaluate your situation quickly and tell you where you stand.
Recent Results in Wage Theft
*Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.
See All Firm Results →What You Should Know
Wage theft includes any failure by an employer to pay wages that are legally owed. Common examples include not paying overtime, denying meal or rest breaks, paying below minimum wage, misclassifying employees as independent contractors, requiring off-the-clock work, making illegal deductions from paychecks, and failing to reimburse business expenses. If your employer is doing any of these things, you may have a claim.
A class action allows a group of similarly situated workers to sue together for the wages they're owed. A PAGA claim is brought on behalf of the State of California to impose penalties on the employer for Labor Code violations. The two often overlap and can be pursued together. PAGA doesn't require class certification, which can make it a faster or simpler path in some cases.
No. California law prohibits retaliation against employees who report wage violations or participate in wage theft investigations. If your employer fires you, demotes you, reduces your hours, or takes any other adverse action because you asserted your rights, you may have an additional claim for retaliation.
In California, the statute of limitations for most wage claims is three years for unpaid wages and four years for claims brought under the Unfair Competition Law (Business and Professions Code Section 17200). PAGA claims have a one-year statute of limitations. The sooner you act, the more wages you may be able to recover.