Group Home Violated California Labor Law, Over and Over…

San Jose, CAKathy quit her job because she wasn't paid overtime. Her employer's excuse was that "they switched payroll companies in the middle of a payroll cycle and they told us because of this switch we wouldn't be paid for overtime we already worked," she says. "The new payroll company had the policy not to pay overtime." But that is not California Labor Law policy, which clearly trumps this payroll company!

"My co-workers and I worked over 30 hours in overtime," says Kathy (not her real name). " I figure the company owes me several hundred dollars in overtime and I know that is in violation of the California labor code. We had to take day trips with our clients (kids who live in the group home) that involved 17 hours of work and this company said they would only pay for 12 hours. They wouldn't pay for travel time but we were on a charter bus with the kids—we had to supervise their daily activities.

I worked at this group home for about 5 months until I quit. And they screwed up all my paid time off—I never got a dime of vacation pay. I emailed the labor board online in early August but I so far I haven't had a reply. Now I am going to take this company to small claims court because I made several attempts to make amends before taking any legal action; I want to ensure that I am compensated every penny that is entitled to me. And it would help if I had a labor lawyer.

A lawyer could help me get the paperwork because I have to request my electronic time sheets but HR isn't very helpful. As an aside, this company, which has over 100 employees and about 8 group homes, is run by a bunch of crooks. They get funds from the government to run these homes and don't give the kids, who come from very unstable backgrounds, the correct care.

In the time I was there, I found out that this company has a history of employees quitting, mainly due to unprofessional behavior by managers in the company and not getting paid properly. Moreover, I was hired as a full-time employee and without any notice I was demoted to part time so I lost all my benefits. I asked why I went from full time to part time and they didn't have an answer. And they didn't follow protocol as laid out in their policy handbook. This company has violated the California Labor Law over and over…"