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 counts overtime by the DAY as well as by the week, which surprises people who have worked in other states. If your shifts run long, the arithmetic can look very different from what you would expect from a weekly total alone.
Things people describe
- Your shifts regularly run past eight hours and your pay is the same hourly rate throughout.
- You are paid a salary and told that means overtime does not apply.
- Your hours are recorded but the extra ones do not appear on your payslip.
- You are asked to finish tasks after clocking out.
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
- Payslips — as many as you can find, not just the most recent.
- Time records, rotas or schedules.
- Anything showing your job duties, like an offer letter or a contract.
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
California's overtime rules are in Labor Code § 510 and the applicable Industrial Welfare Commission wage order. Which wage order covers you depends on your industry, and it changes the answer — which is one of the things a lawyer works out from your documents rather than from a description.
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
You answer questions about the job and upload what you have. We put it together and send it to an employment law firm, who decide whether they can take it on. You hear from them either way.
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 § 510; IWC wage orders. To be checked against the DIR's current published text at review.