Are you owed pay from a San Jose 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 badge says I clocked in at 7:00, but the gowning, tool startup, and stand-up meeting the line requires all happen before that. The law calls it → possible unpaid off-the-clock work and 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 Jose employees must be paid for every hour worked, with California overtime after eight hours in a day or forty in a week, duty-free meal and rest periods, reimbursed business expenses, accurate wage statements, and prompt final pay. Many statutory wage claims reach back three years; restitution and penalty claims 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 Jose.
- Wage claims accrue paycheck by paycheck, so every pay period you let pass can quietly drop the oldest unpaid weeks out of reach, the delay itself shrinks what you can recover.
- Not every California wage claim runs on the same three-year clock: a restitution theory can reach back four years, while the penalty for inaccurate wage statements must be raised within one year.
- Federal FLSA claims carry their own limits, generally two years, or three when a violation is willful, which can be shorter than the California periods for the very same paycheck.
- A salary, an 'exempt' job title, or a signed contractor agreement does not decide whether you were classified correctly; the actual duties you perform and the governing legal test control.
Where do you file a wage and hour claim in San Jose?
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 Jose District Office
Serves Santa Clara, San Benito, Santa Cruz, and Monterey counties, including San Jose and the wider Silicon Valley.
96 North Third Street, Suite 400San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 291-7730 WHD complaint / inquiry form →
Superior Court of California, County of Santa Clara
Downtown Superior Court (DTS)191 North First Street
San Jose, CA 95113
The filing path, step by step
- 1Keep copies of your schedules, timecards, pay stubs, written pay and expense-reimbursement policies, and any texts or Slack messages about work done off the clock, along with your own honest estimate of the hours you actually worked.
- 2For a California wage claim, use the Labor Commissioner's wage-claim process or the San Jose DLSE district office at 224 Airport Parkway, Suite 300. The state route can address unpaid wages, overtime, meal and rest premiums, business-expense reimbursement, and final pay.
- 3For a federal minimum-wage or overtime issue, contact the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division through its online complaint form, by phone, or at the San Jose District Office at 96 North Third Street, Suite 400.
- 4State and federal wage laws differ in coverage, remedies, and time limits. A lawyer can tell you 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 Jose workers.
I'm an 'exempt' engineer at a San Jose tech company but I do the same work as the hourly contractors on my team. Could I be owed overtime?
Possibly. An exempt title and a salary do not by themselves establish that an overtime exemption applies. What matters is your actual duties, your level of independent judgment, the salary threshold, and the applicable California and federal tests. Save your schedules and a description of a typical week.
My San Jose employer reimburses nothing for the personal phone and laptop I use for work. Is that a wage issue?
It can be. California generally requires employers to reimburse necessary business expenses, which can include a reasonable share of phone, internet, and equipment costs used for the job. Keep your bills and records showing the work use, and note any written reimbursement policy.
A semiconductor line makes us gown up and sit through a pre-shift meeting before we clock in. Should that time be paid?
Often yes. Time an employer requires and controls before a shift, such as mandatory gowning, equipment startup, or meetings, can be compensable under California law even when it happens before you clock in. Track those minutes and keep any schedules or instructions that require them.
I deliver through an app in San Jose and get no overtime or expense pay. Do wage laws even apply to me?
They might. Whether wage protections apply often turns on whether you were correctly classified as an employee or an independent contractor, and that depends on the governing legal test, not the label in the app's agreement. If you were misclassified, overtime, expense reimbursement, and break rules can come back into play.