Are you an employer who is searching for an experienced and proven San Diego and California wage and hour defense lawyer? The attorneys at the Watkins Firm have decades of experience in employer defense, business litigation and defending our employer clients against wage and hour claims.
Key Takeaways about an Experienced California Wage and Hour Defense Lawyer
- Look for years of experience in your employer defense attorney. California is the most legally difficult state in which to be an employer.
- Plaintiffs attorneys are heavily advertising for disgruntled current and former employees seeking wage and hour and PAGA class action lawsuits.
- The experienced California employer defense lawyers at the Watkins Firm have 40+ years of experience taking proactive steps to reduce the likelihood of a legal issue, and effective, proven action to protect our clients in any dispute, lawsuit or class action.
It Isn’t Enough to Simply Maintain Policies and Procedures and Your Employee Handbook
Recent years have brought a substantial change to many California employer-related policies and practices, and it is important to keep abreast of these changes and modify internal contracts, policies and procedures and the employee handbook accordingly. The old saying “the best defense is a good offense” definitely applies here. The Watkins Firm helps to prevent disputes, lawsuits and class actions before they ever have a chance to develop. Once a dispute or lawsuit arises, we are often able to help our clients to take immediate steps to significantly mitigate or remediate altogether their legal and financial exposure(s).
However, you can do everything possible as an employer, and still face wage and hour claims from employees on a variety of matters including:
- Unpaid Overtime Disputes
- PAGA Actions
- FMLA Leave
- Piece-Rate Compensation
- California’s Fair Pay Act
- Straight Commission (Minimum Wage Requirements)
- Meals, Rest Breaks and Non-Productive Time
- Tips
Defending California Wage and Hour Claims
Your California wage and hour defense lawyer at the Watkins Firm has more than 40 years of experience defending San Diego and California employers against wage and hour claims. The process begins with effective training for your corporate officers, management team and all supervisors who interact with employees. When we follow internal documentation and guidelines wage and hour defense cases are much more defensible, and we gain outright dismissals in cases of employee abuse or failure to follow clearly established and monitored guidelines.
Wage and hour cases are often used by plaintiffs attorneys to attract potential PAGA actions. Contingency fees drive these firms to attempt to attract cases and use the violations alleged by a single employee to identify and pursue a group of your employees to join a PAGA action against you. Establishing PAGA class action group claims is a much lower bar than the tight restrictions of a normal class action. Plaintiff’s attorneys seek the vast sums you face as an employer based upon the accumulated financial damages and penalties of a “per employee, per pay period” group.
Pro-Tip: “Let’s talk about an employer who makes a mistake on the way somebody drafted someone’s paycheck in the tune of, let’s say $15 a week. The next thing you know, you’re in a PAGA class action that puts you at risk for $300,000, $400,000 because of an accounting error that led to a class action. Now, had you had certain types of agreements in place, even some kinds of arbitration agreements, that’s where we’re at now on these laws. You could have cut this off also, had you had some lawyer you could talk to about your procedures or maybe our HR person, someone you can call if there’s any questions, or your staff can call, then you won’t have this problem. And if you do, then you shut it down right away.
Pro-Tip: “Let’s talk about an employer who makes a mistake on the way somebody drafted someone’s paycheck in the tune of, let’s say $15 a week. The next thing you know, you’re in a PAGA class action that puts you at risk for $300,000, $400,000 because of an accounting error that led to a class action. Now, had you had certain types of agreements in place, even some kinds of arbitration agreements, that’s where we’re at now on these laws. You could have cut this off also, had you had some lawyer you could talk to about your procedures or maybe our HR person, someone you can call if there’s any questions, or your staff can call, then you won’t have this problem. And if you do, then you shut it down right away.Fast action in any of these matters is the key. Pick up the phone and call us the second that you think something’s going on. Why does that matter? Judges don’t really like these cases, and there’s a lot of technical reasons to throw them out because they’re turning into sort of a shady PI lawyer, the person that hangs out in the hospital room. These kind of employment lawyers are starting to be like that. And so if they don’t follow all the rules and you get to court in the first couple of months and you file a motion saying you didn’t give the proper notice, you didn’t state the proper cause of action, the judge will throw it out.
If you call us, as soon as you’re aware of it, we can help you to mitigate the problem, or remediate it, get rid of it, solve it altogether. If you know ahead of time and your good experienced lawyer at the Watkins Firm, sometimes we have them come in and say, no, no, no, don’t pay us all this money. Pay the extra $3,000 in wages. Send out amended pay stubs before you even have to answer the complaint. And guess what? All of the causes of action that have attorney’s fees in them are gone. Nobody wants to sue you anymore because of that. So yes, quick action gives your lawyer the ability to help you to do things that just destroy a case in the beginning.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner
You Need to Take Immediate Action – Contact an Experienced San Diego and California Wage and Hour Defense Lawyer at the Watkins Firm Today
The key to these cases is immediate action. As soon as you suspect that a potential wage and hour dispute or other legal matter involving employees is developing pick up the phone and call an experienced San Diego and California wage and hour defense lawyer for a free consultation. There are many steps we can take immediately to remediate what has happened, reduce your exposure and resolve the matter quickly and efficiently.
Our unique approach to disputes and litigation ensures that wage and hour claim issues are handled as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. Many of these disputes can be resolved through effective leveraged negotiation. We represent our clients at every step of an employment or wage and hour related dispute including hearings before California’s Labor Board, state and federal agencies, negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and ultimately in court if necessary.
If you are concerned about a wage and hour dispute or claim we invite you to review our podcast Episode 39 – What Keeps Employers Up at Night as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.
