I Filed a Wage Claim with the California Labor Board but Think I May Need an Attorney at the hearing before the Labor Commissioner. What Are My Options?
We hear this one a lot. People often file wage claims with the California labor commissioner and then realize that they can be very complicated. Also, it is possible for self-represented claimants to not know the ins and outs of California wage and hour law, so they end up making wage claims for far less than what they are entitled to. The Labor Commissioner’s office usually helps employees along the way, but they do not represent individuals in wage claims. Also, the deputy Labor Commissioners do not investigate your wage claims in the same way that a CA wage claim attorney should. This makes representing yourself in a wage claim very difficult.
When someone comes to Strauss & Strauss after filing a wage claim but before the hearing on their claim, we often end up dismissing their wage claim and filing their claim in civil court. There are many advantages to filing a wage claim in civil court. Some cases are better handled in the Labor Commissioner venue. For a free assessment of your California wage claim, contact us now.
Most of our clients who filed their own wage claim do not know about other potential claims they may have. An example would be someone who files a meal period claim but does not realize that she also has a overtime wage claim. If she won at her Labor Board hearing, she would only get damages for the meal period wage claim and not the overtime wage claim. She would be missing out on potentially thousands of dollars in unknown claims.
Many people also find that representing themselves at the hearing on their wage claim is something they wish they had an attorney for. Many employers have attorneys at the Labor Commissioner hearing, while the employee-claimant represents himself. This can result in the employee not being able to prove his case. It happens.
If you think you may be better represented in your California wage claim by an attorney, contact Strauss & Strauss APC now. It’s what we do on a daily basis, all over California.