On January 1, 2022, the minimum wage in California increased to $15 per hour for employers with twenty-six or more employees, and $14 per hour for employers with twenty-five or fewer employees.
These increases were the latest step-ups in the state minimum wage rate since former governor Jerry Brown enacted Senate Bill No. 3 back in 2016, requiring annual minimum wage increases starting on January 1, 2017, and culminating in a $15-per-hour minimum wage requirement applicable to all California employers on January 1, 2023.
Under California law, employees may bring private civil actions against their employers alleging violations of minimum wage law to recover unpaid wages, as well as attorneys' fees, costs, and interest.
Also, any failure on the part of a California employer to pay all wages owed to an employee upon his or her departure from the company may result in a statutory penalty under California Labor Code section 203 in an amount equal to up to thirty working days of full pay, which would be six weeks of pay for a regular, full-time employee.
In addition, employees may bring claims for civil penalties under California's Private Attorneys General Act for initial violations in the amount of $100 for each underpaid employee for each pay period for which the employee is underpaid, and $200 for each subsequent violation.
Individuals may also be personally liable for minimum wage violations. Section 1199 of the Labor Code provides that "every employer or other person...
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