Employment Law Experts

Kharatian Law, APC is a full service labor and employment law firm representing employees all throughout California. Kharatian Law, APC specializes in all aspects of labor and employment claims. Whether you have been discriminated, harassed or retaliated against or were not compensated adequately or properly Kharatian Law, APC can assist in your claim in State and Federal Court as well as private arbitration proceedings.    

Thankfully, California is unlike some states in the broad scope of the protections against discrimination, unfair labor practices, and unpaid wages that its state laws provide to employees. The employee protections available California law even exceed many of the protections provided by federal laws in many respects. However, employers in the Golden State still routinely violate the law by paying their employees less than is required by law, allowing a hostile work environment to persist, or retaliating against employees who report discrimination they have experienced on the job.

Depending upon your specific job classification (i.e. exempt or non-exempt), California employees are entitled to be paid time and a half for any hours worked per week over 40 hours and also are required to be provided meal and rest breaks every shift if the employee is considered a non-exempt employee under California law. An exempt employee is typically someone like a manager, while a non-exempt employee is an employee like a receptionist or administrative assistant,  if you are a non-exempt worker, you are entitled to meal and rest breaks under California law: a 30-minute meal break if you work more than 5 hours in a workday, and one 10 minutes breaks for every 4 hours you work. However, many employers either ignore these rules or try to manipulate the classification of their employees in order to avoid having to pay overtime or provide employees with the legally required meal and rest breaks.

Both federal and California law also protect workers’ rights to equal treatment, equal pay and freedom from discrimination or a hostile work environment on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, pregnancy status, and other specified protected categories. Under these laws, employees are protected from discrimination in, among other things, hiring, pay, promotions, and from being subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of all of these protected categories. Employees are also protected from demotion, termination or another form of retaliation if the employee complains to his or her employer of discrimination based upon the employee’s status as a member of a group with protected status.  

If your employer is violating your rights under either federal or California law by paying you less than minimum wage, denying you the meal or rest breaks you are entitled to under California law, or you have been discriminated against or subjected to a hostile work environment on the basis of your membership in a protected category, contact experienced California employee rights attorney Jores Kharatian of Kharatian Law