Author: timothymccandless

Multiple LLCs on the stub is not a payroll feature. It is often the tell. On August 21, 2025, the Labor Commissioner issued citations totaling $2,345,384 to developers and affiliated entities at four Los Angeles construction sites, covering 124 workers. More than $2.1 million is unpaid wages and damages, plus over $165,000 in interest. DIR…

A big-box logo on the manifest does not wash out the Labor Code just because a Chula Vista LLC signs the check. On October 30, 2025, the Labor Commissioner cited Costco Wholesale Corporation, Ryder Last Mile Inc., and Mega Nice Trucking LLC $868,128 for misclassification and wage violations affecting 58 delivery drivers. $662,978 of that…

The company whose name is on your shirt is not always the only employer who owes you. On November 24, 2025, the Labor Commissioner announced citations totaling $438,204 against several janitorial companies, their owners, and OptumCare Management LLC for wage theft affecting more than 90 janitors who cleaned manufacturing, laboratory, and healthcare facilities in Los…

A lunch you spend helping customers is not a meal period. On September 4, 2025, the Labor Commissioner cited J BBQ, a Koreatown restaurant operated by Midri, Inc. and owner Byung Kwan Lee, $680,238 for wage theft affecting 48 workers. $538,638 of that citation is payable to the workers. DIR News Release 2025-88. DIR found…

Unpaid wages are not a “payroll misunderstanding” once the employer knows the money is due and keeps it anyway. California added Penal Code section 487m in 2021 (AB 1003, effective January 1, 2022). Intentional theft of wages above a dollar line may be punished as grand theft. That is a district attorney’s charging decision. It…

Slow hours are still hours if the employer will not let you leave. On December 19, 2025, the Labor Commissioner announced a $1.2 million settlement with Newport Auto Spa, Inc., doing business as The Car Spa, a luxury car wash in Newport Beach. DIR News Release 2025-122. The Bureau of Field Enforcement found ticket writers,…

A placement agency does not get to turn caregivers into fake businesses and then keep control of the schedule. On April 23, 2026, the Labor Commissioner cited Hart Placement Agency Inc. of Canoga Park, and its principals Annie Ghaw and Hartmann Ghaw, $4,423,450 for willfully misclassifying 144 caregivers who worked in private homes across Los…

A hotel can reopen, fill the rooms, and still owe the people it laid off. California’s Right to Recall law is not a courtesy. It is a seniority rule with a dollar figure attached. On August 4, 2026, the Labor Commissioner announced a $2.75 million settlement for 24 workers who were not offered their jobs…

Statewide minimum wage in California is $16.90 an hour right now, for every employer size. It is scheduled to be $17.40 on January 1, 2027. If your stub still shows $16.50 — or a “training rate,” or tips counted toward the floor — you are being underpaid. And if you never got the 2026 Know…

Heat kills workers. California already requires water, shade or a cool-down area, rest, and a written plan. Cal/OSHA reminded employers of that again on August 25, 2026, as extreme heat continued across Southern California. If your crew has no water, no shade, and no cool-down rest, that is a reportable hazard — not a scheduling…