Are you owed pay from a San Bernardino job?
Unpaid overtime, missed meal or rest breaks, off-the-clock work and unreimbursed expenses may be unlawful. Retaliation after you asked about pay may be unlawful too.
If your workplace rights were violated, you may be able to pursue the wages you earned and, where the law provides, penalties and interest.
Not sure the math is off? You can request a review even without your pay records in hand.
What wage theft can look like, and what the law calls it.
Wage violations are usually quiet and routine, a timekeeping habit, a job title, a 'that's just how we do it.' What matters is whether you were paid what the law requires for the hours you actually worked.
I clock out when the schedule says, then keep working, because the work isn't done.
The law calls it → possible off-the-clock work
- I regularly work through breaks because there's no coverage. The law calls it → possible missed-break violation
- I'm salaried with a manager title, but I do the same work as the hourly crew. The law calls it → possible misclassification
- My hours changed after I asked about my pay. The law calls it → possible retaliation
- My rate meter keeps running through the badge-out line and the forklift shutdown, but the clock stops the second my shift is 'over.' The law calls it → possible off-the-clock hours worked and unpaid overtime
These cover unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, missed meal and rest breaks, misclassification (exempt or contractor), unpaid final wages, retaliation for raising pay issues, in any industry. If something here is familiar, you don't have to be sure before you ask.
Illustrative situations, not client accounts.
Nonexempt San Bernardino and Inland Empire workers must be paid for all time worked, including California overtime past eight hours a day or forty a week, duty-free meal and rest periods, mileage and equipment reimbursement, and final pay on time. Many wage claims reach back three years, though restitution and wage-statement penalties follow separate clocks.
What could taking action help you recover?
Depending on the facts, legal action may help recover unpaid wages, address missed breaks and off-the-clock work, and correct the practice going forward. Available remedies depend on the facts and applicable law; no outcome is guaranteed.
Unpaid wages or overtime
Hours worked but never paid, including overtime premiums, may be recoverable for the statutory period.
Missed-break and off-the-clock pay
Compensation may be available for missed meal or rest periods and for work performed before or after the clock.
Expense reimbursement and related pay
Necessary work expenses, and wages tied to them, may be reimbursable depending on the state and the facts.
Statutory relief where applicable
Some claims carry interest, statutory amounts, or fee-shifting; which apply depends on the claim and jurisdiction.
You do not need complete pay records, or certainty that your paycheck was wrong, before asking what your options are.
Common concerns we hear from workers about pay
I do not have complete time records.
Employers generally must keep time and pay records. Missing records are common in these cases, and schedules, messages, badge data, and coworker accounts can help reconstruct hours.
I was paid a salary.
A salary or job title does not by itself make you exempt from overtime. Exemption generally depends on your actual duties and pay, not the label.
I signed an arbitration agreement.
An arbitration agreement can change where a claim is heard, not necessarily whether you have one. It is worth reviewing before assuming it closes the door.
I still work there.
You can ask questions while still employed. Retaliating against a worker for asserting wage rights may itself be unlawful.
Some of the work happened before or after my shift.
Time an employer knows or should know is being worked, including pre-shift and post-shift tasks, may be compensable.
Avi Kreitenberg
Shareholder · Admitted in California
Avi Kreitenberg represents California workers in wage-and-hour class actions, including unpaid overtime, missed breaks, and expense-reimbursement matters. He is licensed in California and Washington.
Read Avi's full bio →Selected wage-and-hour class and representative action results.
$17M
Health-care workforce · approximately 30,000 workers · Meal and rest break class action
Proposed settlement · preliminary approval granted
$16M
Health-care workforce · approximately 23,900 workers · Meal and rest break class action
Final approval
$14M
Grocery workforce · California · Rest break PAGA settlement
Final · co-lead counsel
$10.94M
Health-care workforce · approximately 11,600 workers · Meal break class action
Final approval
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Every case is different; the value and outcome of your matter will depend on its specific facts.
What happens after you reach out?
You don't need documents, a lawyer-ready story, or even certainty that what happened was illegal.
- 01
Talk with us
A short initial conversation about what happened and when.
- 02
We assess the record
We identify possible claims, deadlines and evidence that may matter.
- 03
If we take the case
We handle the filing strategy, negotiations and litigation.
Deadlines can depend on where and how you file
California and federal claims may follow different filing routes. These are general time limits, not sequential steps.
Generally, for many statutory California wage claims.
Potentially, for restitution through California's unfair-competition claim.
Generally, for the shorter wage-statement-penalty claim.
Other claims and exceptions may have different or shorter deadlines. Contact counsel promptly so the applicable dates can be reviewed.
California Labor Code and IWC Wage Orders
Cal. Lab. Code §§ 201–204, 226, 510, 512, 1194; applicable IWC Wage Order
Primary source, Cal. Lab. Code §§ 201–204, 226, 510, 512, 1194; applicable IWC Wage Order ↗Share what happened in about two minutes. The firm will review your submission and contact you about possible options and next steps. There is no cost or obligation to request a review.
Deadlines and filing issues for workers in San Bernardino.
- Every short paycheck can open its own clock, the longer you wait, the more likely the oldest underpaid weeks fall outside what you can still recover.
- California's familiar three-year period is not the only one: a restitution theory can reach back four years, while the wage-statement penalty runs on a one-year clock.
- Federal FLSA claims use a two-year window that stretches to three only for willful violations, shorter than California's, so the route you choose changes the deadline.
- A salary, a lead or manager title, or an independent-contractor agreement does not settle whether you were classified correctly; the actual work and the governing legal test decide it.
Where do you file a wage and hour claim in San Bernardino?
California Labor Commissioner, Division of Labor Standards Enforcement
California wage claims may be filed online, by email, by mail, or in person. The office below is the Los Angeles district office; other cities should use the filing link if no matching district office is listed.
State wage-claim filing →U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, West Covina District Office
Covers San Bernardino County, Riverside County, and portions of Los Angeles County. There is no Wage and Hour Division office in San Bernardino; most workers file online.
100 N. Barranca Street, Suite 850West Covina, CA 91791
(626) 966-0478 WHD complaint / inquiry form →
San Bernardino County Superior Court
San Bernardino Justice Center, Civil Division247 West Third Street
San Bernardino, CA 92415-0210
The filing path, step by step
- 1Preserve schedules, punch records, pay stubs, piece-rate or per-load sheets, mileage and equipment receipts, badge or gate logs, and your own estimate of the hours you actually worked.
- 2For a California wage claim, use the Labor Commissioner's filing process or the San Bernardino DLSE district office at 464 West Fourth Street, Room 348. The state process can address unpaid wages, daily and weekly overtime, meal and rest premiums, reimbursement, and final pay.
- 3For a federal minimum-wage or overtime concern, contact the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division through its online complaint form, by phone, or through the West Covina District Office at 100 N. Barranca Street, Suite 850, the office that covers San Bernardino County.
- 4State and federal wage routes carry different coverage rules, remedies, and clocks. A lawyer can weigh whether an agency claim, an individual court case, or a class or representative action fits the pay practice affecting you and your coworkers.
Wage-and-hour information in other California cities
- FresnoWage-and-hour information
- Long BeachWage-and-hour information
- Los AngelesWage-and-hour information
- Orange CountyWage-and-hour information
- RiversideWage-and-hour information
- SacramentoWage-and-hour information
Asked by San Bernardino workers.
I load trucks at an Inland Empire warehouse and clock out before security screening, is that time paid?
Often it should be. In California, time under the employer's control, including required security or bag checks and post-shift staging, can be compensable hours worked. Save your badge or gate logs, schedules, and punch records so the gap between recorded and actual time is clear.
I'm a driver paid per load and told I'm an independent contractor, can I still be owed overtime?
Possibly. The contractor label does not by itself decide the question; California and federal tests look at the real relationship and degree of control. Per-load or per-mile plans also have to cover inspection, waiting, and other on-duty time. Keep your trip records, load sheets, and pay statements.
Should I file with the California Labor Commissioner or the U.S. Department of Labor?
The California Labor Commissioner handles covered state wage claims, and its San Bernardino office serves the area; the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division enforces the federal FLSA through the West Covina office that covers the county. Some facts support both, but their coverage, remedies, and deadlines differ.
One warehouse-wide policy underpaid a lot of us, can a claim cover the whole crew?
Sometimes. When a single timekeeping, meal-break, reimbursement, or classification practice affects workers the same way, a claim may proceed on behalf of a class or through another representative procedure, subject to that procedure's requirements.