Why people use this
It costs nothing to find out where you stand, nothing goes to your employer, and what you send goes to a real employment lawyer licensed in California — not a database, not a lead list. You do not need to know whether what happened was against the law; that is what the lawyer works out once they have read your file.
What this is about
California treats the end of a job as a moment with its own rules about when everything owed has to be paid, and being let go is treated differently from resigning.
Things people describe
- You were let go and the final payment did not come that day.
- You resigned and are waiting.
- The final payslip is missing accrued holiday.
If any of this sounds like your situation, that does not tell you whether anything went wrong — it tells you it may be worth having someone look.
What helps
- Your final payslip, and the one before it.
- Anything showing the date the job ended.
- Bank statements showing when money arrived.
We ask for documents because they show what happened better than memory does. If you do not have something, say so; a gap is a normal part of a case and not a reason to stop.
In California
Labor Code §§ 201–203 set out when final wages are due and what follows if they are late. A promise to pay on a future date is not the same as payment, and the dates in the records are what count.
Claims about work usually have time limits, and they can be shorter than people expect. We cannot tell you what your own time limit is — that depends on your situation. If this matters to you, it is worth finding out sooner rather than later.
What happens if you start
Dates matter a lot here, so we ask for documents that show them.
About us
Worker Rights Line is not a law firm and cannot give you legal advice. We help you put your situation and your documents together, and pass them to an employment law firm in California who decides whether they can act for you.
Reviewed by Jelmer de Boer on 2026-08-19.
Based on: Labor Code §§ 201–203. Check at review.