California Wage Theft Recovery System

What’s Inside

What’s Inside — All 25 Sections

PART I — SITUATION ASSESSMENT (Sections 1–4)

Section 1 — The Decision Tree: Four gates that identify your violation type and route you to the exact sections and filing path for your situation.

Section 2 — California Wage and Hour Rights: 2025 minimum wage rates by city, every key Labor Code statute, and your statutes of limitations for each violation type.

Section 3 — Evidence and Documentation Worksheet: What to gather, in what order, before you file anything. Employers destroy records — this section prevents that.

Section 4 — Employer Violation Identifier: 40+ specific violations with the dollar penalty for each. Check every box that applies.

PART II — THE VIOLATIONS (Sections 5–9)

Section 5 — Unpaid Wages and Minimum Wage: Liquidated damages (automatic 2x), off-the-clock schemes, required unpaid tasks.

Section 6 — Overtime Theft: California’s daily OT rule (8 hrs/day), all four overtime thresholds, damage calculator.

Section 7 — Meal and Rest Break Violations: $1 premium per missed break, 3-year lookback calculator, duty-free requirements.

Section 8 — Final Paycheck Theft: Waiting time penalties — up to 30 days × your daily wage, accruing automatically.

Section 9 — Tip Theft: Labor Code 351 — who can participate in tip pools, what’s criminal, how to recover.

PART III — MISCLASSIFICATION (Sections 10–11)

Section 10 — Independent Contractor Misclassification: California’s ABC Test under AB 5 — fail any prong = employee entitled to 3 years of back wages.

Section 11 — Exempt vs Non-Exempt: The two-part exemption test — why your “manager” title may mean nothing and how to calculate years of owed overtime.

PART IV — YOUR WEAPONS (Sections 12–15)

Section 12 — DLSE Wage Claim: Free state enforcement — the Labor Commissioner investigates, subpoenas records, and collects.

Section 13 — PAGA: The penalty multiplier — how it forces employment attorneys to take your case at no upfront cost.

Section 14 — Small Claims Court: Up to $12,500, no attorney, 6–8 weeks. Step-by-step guide.

Section 15 — Civil Lawsuit and Class Action: When to escalate and how to find a contingency attorney.

PARTS V–VII — LETTERS, SPECIAL SITUATIONS, AI LIBRARY (Sections 16–25)

Sections 16–19 — Four Demand Letter Templates: Fill-in-the-blank letters for unpaid wages, final paycheck, overtime, and meal/rest breaks.

Section 20 — Retaliation Protection: Labor Code 98.6 — $10,000 penalty per violation. What’s protected, how to document it.

Sections 21–23 — Special Worker Rights: Domestic workers, agricultural workers (AB 1066), and remote employees.

Section 24 — DLSE Filing Guide: Complete step-by-step walkthrough of the hearing process.

Section 25 — AI Prompt Library: All 14 Claude prompts in one master reference with chaining strategies.

The Analyzer in Action — A Real Example

Here is what happens when a worker uses the kit’s Claude AI Prompt Analyzer with their own facts. This example was run by a hotel janitor earning $28.50/hour who worked 58 hours per week, 10 hours per day, with no overtime paid, no meal breaks, and no rest breaks — including no bathroom breaks.

Input to the Analyzer

Janitor. $28.50/hr. Hotel. 58 hours per week, 10 hours a day. No overtime. No breaks. No bathroom breaks.

What Claude Identified

Applicable wage order: IWC Wage Order 5 — Public Housekeeping Industry (covers hotels and janitorial services). Non-exempt employee. Full overtime and break protections apply.

Violations found:

  • Daily overtime: California requires 1.5x after 8 hours/day. At 10 hours/day, 2 hours of daily overtime premium owed every shift — none paid.
  • Weekly overtime: 1.5x required after 40 hours/week. At 58 hours, an additional 18 hours of premium owed weekly.
  • Meal break violations: Two 30-minute duty-free meal breaks required on a 10-hour shift. None provided. Premium: 1 hour at regular rate per violation per day.
  • Rest break violations: Two paid 10-minute rest breaks required on a 10-hour shift. None provided (including no bathroom breaks). Premium: 1 hour at regular rate per violation per day.
  • Wage statement violations: Pay stubs almost certainly did not reflect correct hours, overtime rates, or break premiums — a separate civil penalty.

Estimated recovery range (6 months / 26 weeks of violations):

Unpaid overtime
$8,000 – $15,000+
Break premiums
$4,000 – $8,000+
PAGA penalties (employee share)
$5,000 – $15,000+
Waiting time (if terminated)
Up to $8,550

Total potential recovery: $15,000 – $40,000+ — before interest and attorney fees (which the employer pays if you win in court). Longer employment = significantly higher amounts.

Filing path Claude recommended:

  1. Compile all paystubs, schedules, time records immediately
  2. Create a spreadsheet: dates worked, hours claimed vs. paid, breaks taken (none)
  3. File a DLSE wage claim online at dir.ca.gov/dlse — free, no attorney required
  4. Send PAGA notice to LWDA + employer to preserve penalty claims
  5. Consult a contingency employment attorney — PAGA + class action potential makes this case attractive

Statute of limitations: 3 years back from today for unpaid wages and break premiums. 1 year for PAGA notice. Do not wait.

This is what the kit’s AI Prompt Library does. You enter your facts. Claude applies California Labor Code — the correct wage order, the correct calculation, the correct filing path — to your specific situation. The janitor in this example had no idea what he was owed until the analyzer ran his numbers. The result changed what he did next.
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Educational use only. Not legal advice. Justice Foundation.