California Overtime: Some Employers Profiting From Recession?

San Clemente, CAIn this tough economy many Americans are barely making ends meet and some are falling into poverty. Just about everyone knows someone who has lost their job. In California, many workers are trying to stay employed by working overtime without compensation, contrary to the California labor law, and unscrupulous employers are profiting from their free labor.

Bruce knows his employer has violated the California labor code by withholding pay checks and not paying any overtime compensation, but he was afraid of losing his job. However, how long can you keep working for free, where do you draw the line? Bruce says he didn't get fully paid for seven months and the last straw was when his hourly wage was slashed to $8.50 from $15.00 per hour. He was about to join the poverty line.

"I joined this company in 2006, working on the assembly line," says Bruce, who also set up booths at trade shows for the same company. "I was making $3,800 per month but things went sideways last January." The company couldn't make payroll some weeks and the CEO doled out petty cash here and there, promising a check next week. But the weeks rolled into months…

"I went three months without a check, until someone invested in the company," says Bruce. "Our pay checks were regular again but that came to a halt last December. We received a few checks that were hand written and they wrote on our checks 'pay advances'. Why advance when we were owed back pay?

From the last week of June until August 14th I received one check for $2,000. Then I got two more checks and was told to sign a form that said I couldn't bring any legal action against the company for back pay and it also stated that these two checks represented the balance of what I was owed. I was so frustrated and misled—I was told that I was signing in receipt of my payroll check.

After work I actually sat down and read this contract. I realized that I couldn't get back the money they owed me. I phoned my mum and told her I signed this under false pretences. She said I was screwed. Then I was laid off—that same day. 'In a couple of weeks, when business picks up you can come back to work,' my supervisor said. I told him that I would only return if my paychecks were on time, every Friday. He couldn't promise that, so I won't be going back; I can work for free at home."