San Diego is home to 1.39 million people. Of these 1.39 million people, there are more than 690,000 employees—that is nearly half of the population. Unfortunately, many employers take advantage of their employees. They sometimes withhold their wages and refuse to pay overtime. Employees that are well-informed of their rights are not only less likely to be victims of their employers but are also more likely to speak up and seek legal action when they are victimized. Many people are not aware that wage laws apply to them and, therefore, do not seek legal action. Who are these people that are being taken advantage of by employers?
Let us consider the population in San Diego, California. Out of the 1.39 total inhabitants, more than 425,000 people are Hispanic. More than 20% of the population is a native Spanish speaker. More than 40% of the population speaks a language other than English in their homes. There are many law firms ready to help employees with wage and overtime disputes in San Diego. The members of the Spanish speaking community still take no action against their employers. Why is that? Regrettably, it is difficult for the Spanish speaking community to find legal assistance in Spanish. Legal assistance is largely inaccessible to the Spanish speaking community in San Diego.
Normandie Law Firm has become aware of this problem facing our community. Case by case, we are trying to make legal services more accessible to the community that is speaking Spanish. Victims of wage withholdings must contact a Spanish attorney who can sue the employer for the wages owed.
The following is general information and is not designed to substitute a consultation with an attorney. Contact Normandie Law Firm to arrange a free consultation of free second opinion.
Your Rights as an Employee
Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees must receive overtime pay for any hours worked that surpassed 40 hours in a week. Overtime pay is given at a rate of at least time a half of the employees’ regular rate. For more information on the FLSA and how it applies to your case, contact an attorney with expertise in wage disputes.
Filing a Complaint about Withheld Wages
The United States Department of Labor has a sector dedicated to ensuring employee wage rights. The Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administers and enforces these employee protection laws; these laws ensure that all employees are paid for all the hours worked. All employers must pay their employees for all hours worked—including overtime. If your boss is not giving you your pay, you must immediately file a complaint with the WHD.
If you are interested in filing a complaint with the WHD, you will need to contact the WHD online or via telephone at 1-866-487-9243. You will be redirected to the WHD office closest to you. There are a few important pieces of information necessary to file a complaint. Once you arrive at the WHD office, you will need to provide your name, your address and phone number, the name of the company where you worked, the location of the company, the phone number of the company, the name of managers and owners, a description of the type of work you performed, and how and when you were paid. After your visit to the WHD office, the WHD will begin an investigation.
The investigation process includes an investigator visiting the company and employer in question. The investigator will examine company record to determine what laws apply and whether the company is exempt from any laws. Next, the investigator will examine payroll and time records. To confirm the information found upon investigating payroll and time records, the investigator will privately interview employees either in person, by mail, or by telephone. Finally, the investigator will meet with the employer and release any findings. If it is found that employees are owed wages including overtime, the investigator will likely request that the employer makes the payment.
It is possible that WHD and the Department of Labor file a lawsuit on behalf of all employees who are owed back wages. In this case, all employees involved are eligible to receive an equal amount in damages. If an employee wishes to file a lawsuit independently, he or she can do so. If the employee chooses to sue for the recovery of back wages including overtime, the WHD and Department of Labor will not seek this compensation on the employee’s behalf as previously stated. If the employee chooses to file a private lawsuit, he or she will need to contact a Spanish speaking attorney to sue the employer. If you are in this situation and live in San Diego, California, you should contact Normandie Law Firm as soon as possible to meet with an overtime pay lawyer that speaks Spanish and that can sue your boss for not paying you overtime.
We Speak Spanish at Normandie Law Firm
Normandie Law Firm is a Spanish law firm dedicated to helping the Spanish speaking community in San Diego exercise employee rights. Many employers take advantage of vulnerable individuals and withhold wages. This is against the law. Employers must pay wages and give overtime pay when appropriate. If your boss has withheld your wages or refused to pay you for overtime, you need to contact a Spanish attorney with experience in wage disputes. A San Diego attorney who can speak Spanish will be able to give you all the information necessary to help you sue your employer. Case by case, Normandie Law Firm is working towards making legal assistance available to every Spanish speaker in San Diego. We can speak Spanish and provide legal support in your language, so do not hesitate to contact our law firm.
Besides providing legal assistance in Spanish, our Spanish speaking law firm offers clients free consultations and free second opinions. You cannot keep allowing your boss to withhold your wages. You need to sue your boss for not paying you your wages or for not paying you overtime. Do not hesitate to contact our law firm. We guarantee that someone who speaks Spanish will be available to help you from the moment you make the first call. Someone who can speak Spanish will schedule an appointment for you to come in and meet with a San Diego overtime wage dispute lawyer that speaks Spanish at your earliest convenience. What should you expect during your free consultation? You should come prepared to have an attorney experienced in handling wage disputes answer all of your questions and address all of your concerns. Our attorneys will do everything possible to ensure that you have all the information necessary to start the process of taking legal action against your employer. If you already have an attorney at another law firm, you might be interested in a free second opinion. Consider the following: are you currently looking for additional information even after meeting with your attorney? Odds are you do not feel like you have enough information to confidently proceed legally. Many attorneys, unfortunately, do not give each case and each consultation the time necessary to ensure that every detail is covered. These attorneys tend to rush through cases to increase their numbers. Although their numbers end up being unreasonably high, many of their clients leave their consultations just as uninformed as when they arrived. Does your attorney speak your language? If neither you nor your attorney dominates the other’s primary language, communication is likely to be an issue. In most cases, the services of an interpreter are necessary; however, key details can sometimes be lost in translation. You need to be represented by an attorney that speaks Spanish. Contact Normandie Law Firm as soon as possible. Our Spanish speaking overtime and wage dispute lawyers in San Diego will give you and your case all the time necessary.
Normandie Law Firm offers all clients a Zero-Fee guarantee. Our clients never have to worry about having to pay any upfront fees. Our Zero-Fee guarantee includes the free consultations and free second opinions available to prospective clients. Best of all, our law firm is strictly based on contingency, so you will not have to pay anything until our lawyers in San Diego who speak Spanish win your case. Contact Normandie Law Firm as soon as possible; someone who speaks Spanish will help you schedule an appointment to come in to speak with one of our experienced attorneys and begin the process toward suing your boss for not giving you your pay.
