Thousand Oaks

Located in Southern California, Thousand Oaks is the second largest city in Ventura County. It is regarded as one of the safest cities in California and it is home to the Conejo Valley Art Museum and the OakHeart Country Music Festival. The city’s main newspaper is The Acorn. The city is served by Highway 101. Major employers in Thousand Oaks include Amgen Biotechnology, Conejo Valley School District, Anthem Blue Cross, Shire Biotechnology, Skyworks Solutions, Sage Publications and PennyMac Mortgage. As in other places, injustices do occur in workplaces in Thousand Oaks. If you were harmed by your employer’s wage and hour violation, discrimination, harassment or retaliation, give our trustworthy Thousand Oakland employment law attorneys a call.

Your employer is required to pay you according to applicable wage and hour laws, including the law pertaining to minimum wage and overtime in Thousand Oaks. A company that correctly identifies you as an independent contractor or exempt employee will not need to pay you according to those rules; sometimes workers are misclassified. It can be difficult to tell if you were appropriately classified, and whether you’re entitled to protection under these laws, but our attorneys may be able to consult with you to determine whether you have a claim. Call us.

One of the common types of claims is overtime claims. If you work more than 8 hours in a workday, you should be paid time and a half your usual rate (which should be at least minimum wage). Assuming you are nonexempt, your employer should pay you double time if you worked more than 12 hours in a workday.

It can be challenging to face discrimination, harassment, or retaliation on the job. You are protected against discrimination by both federal and state laws. Federal Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, color, national origin, and religion. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of your disability. These laws, and certain other federal laws are enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), an agency with which our lawyers would need to file a charge before bringing a lawsuit on your behalf.

In most cases, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides broader protections than federal laws do. This law applies to employers that have at least 5 employees.

The following are characteristics that are protected under FEHA:

• Race,
• Color,
• Religion,
• National origin,
• Sex (pregnancy or gender)
• Sexual orientation,
• Marital status,
• Denial of family and medical care leave, including denial of pregnancy disability leave,
• Ancestry,
• Medical condition,
• Mental and physical disability,
• Denial of family and medical care leave.

All employers in California, even those with just one employee, are prohibited from sexual harassment.

Federal and state antidiscrimination laws include provisions against retaliation. Retaliation occurs when an employer takes an adverse step against you in the workplace because you complained in good faith of discrimination or another legal violation. Filing a complaint of discrimination or filing a charge with an administrative agency is a protected activity in California. In some cases, courts have not found that allegations were serious enough to find discrimination, but still found that there was retaliation by the employer against the employee for making the good-faith discrimination claim.

Retaliation can also occur if you were subject to negative treatment because you are a whistleblower.

Most people start jobs hopeful that they’ll be judged on their good performance. It can be devastating to work for an employer that breaks the law or discriminates against you. Call the trustworthy Thousand Oaks employment lawyers of Calderone Law Firm. Vincent Calderone, our founder and principal has fought for the rights of employees for more than a quarter of a century. Fill out our online form or give us a call at (424) 348-8290.