Minimum wage in California

Minimum wage is standard amount of salary that an employee of a particular jurisdiction must receive for bestowing his services for a certain period. With some exceptions, all individuals working in California must receive minimum wages as stated under the state law. As of January 1, 2007, the minimum wage was set at $7.50 per hour of service rendered to a company and would increase to $8.00. Some of the exceptions are the following:
External sales individuals
Immediate family of the employer such as parent, sibling, spouse and child
Trainees who are commissioned under the State Division of Apprenticeship Standards
Learners who have not been employed in similar jobs (would receive salaries not less than 85% of the minimum wage until they have completed 160 work hours)
Mentally or physically challenged employees
Employees of a non-profit organization
Note: Employers may apply for their special license with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement if they wish to avail these exemptions.
All employers in California are obliged to follow the state minimum wage law provisions. However, there are cases wherein some companies are subjected to both the federal and state rules. Hence, the law affirmed that the employers must stick to the wage standard that will be more advantageous to their employees.
Nonetheless, because it happened that, the minimum wage in California is much higher than the rate required by the federal law; employers must abide by the state minimum wage rate. Failure to comply with this standard makes a company culpable of an offense that may cause them serious legal predicaments.
An employee who has been underpaid may either file his wage claim with the DLSE or bring a lawsuit in court to recover his lost wages from his unruly employer. The complete statutes are specified under the Labor Code of California.
Following the submission of a wage claim with the local DLSE office, the case will be brought under the determination of the Deputy Labor Commissioner who has the authority to refer or dismiss a wage claim. His decision would be based upon the conditions raised and evidences presented by the complainant.
In an event that the deputy commissioner decided to have the case be heard, both the complainant and his employer will be notified when and where the hearing would take place. The conference aims to determine whether the claim is valid and find out if the issue may be resolved without filing a lawsuit.
If either party did not agree to the decision of the Labor Commissioner or both of them fail to reach an agreement, it is the time for a court trial to be scheduled. The employee then necessitates a minimum wage claim attorney to ensure that his rights under the law would be properly observed.