Are you owed pay from a San Diego 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
- The schedule says my shift ends at close, but I'm still counting the till and hosing down the mats twenty minutes after I've already clocked out. The law calls it → possible off-the-clock work 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.
Most nonexempt San Diego employees must be paid for every hour worked, including California overtime after eight hours in a day or forty in a week, meal and rest breaks, accurate pay stubs, reimbursed expenses, and prompt final wages. Many statutory wage claims reach back three years, though restitution and wage-statement penalties run on different 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 Diego.
- Every short paycheck can open its own clock, delay doesn't just postpone the case, it can push the oldest weeks of unpaid work past the point where you can still recover them.
- California's frequently cited three-year period isn't the only one: a restitution theory can reach back four years, while the wage-statement penalty runs on a shorter one-year clock.
- Under the federal FLSA the window is two years, three if the violation was willful, so the federal overtime route can close before the state one does.
- A salary, a manager title, or a signed independent-contractor agreement doesn't decide whether you were classified correctly; the duties you actually perform and the governing legal test do.
- Final-pay and waiting-time penalty claims turn on when your employment ended and when you were actually paid, note those dates before the details blur.
Where do you file a wage and hour claim in San Diego?
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, San Diego District Office
Serves Imperial, San Diego, and Orange counties from the 550 Corporate Center building in downtown San Diego.
550 West C Street, Suite 990San Diego, CA 92101
(619) 557-5110 WHD complaint / inquiry form →
San Diego County Superior Court
Central Courthouse1100 Union Street
San Diego, CA 92101
The filing path, step by step
- 1Preserve schedules, time punches, pay stubs, tip and service-charge records, expense receipts, and any texts about work before or after a shift, plus your own honest estimate of the hours you actually worked.
- 2For a California wage claim, use the Labor Commissioner's filing process or the San Diego DLSE district office at 7575 Metropolitan Drive, Suite 210. The state route can reach unpaid wages, overtime, meal and rest premiums, expense reimbursements, waiting-time penalties, and more.
- 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 at the San Diego District Office at 550 West C Street, Suite 990.
- 4State and federal routes carry different coverage, remedies, and clocks. A lawyer can weigh whether an agency claim, an individual lawsuit, or a class or representative action best 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 Diego workers.
I'm salaried at a San Diego biotech but do the same bench work as the hourly techs, could I still be owed overtime?
Possibly. A salary and an 'exempt' label don't settle it; your actual duties, salary level, independent judgment, and the governing California and federal tests do. Lab and research roles are often misclassified. Save your schedules and a description of what a typical week involves.
My taproom pools tips and adds a service charge, where is that money supposed to go?
California treats tips as the employees' property, and a mandatory service charge is generally not a tip, so how each is handled and distributed can raise wage issues. Keep your pay stubs, tip records, and any written tip or service-charge policy.
My San Diego employer records a 30-minute meal break even on nights I never actually stop working. What should I keep?
Save time records, schedules, messages showing there was no coverage, and notes on the days you worked through or had a break cut short. California generally provides meal and rest protections and premium pay for most nonexempt employees, subject to the governing rules and exceptions.
Should I contact the California Labor Commissioner or the U.S. Department of Labor?
The California Labor Commissioner handles covered state wage claims, while the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division enforces federal wage laws including the FLSA. Some facts may support both routes, but their coverage, remedies, and deadlines are not identical.
One scheduling or break policy affects my whole crew, can a single San Diego worker bring a case for everyone?
Sometimes. When one timekeeping, 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 the requirements for that procedure.