How Do I Ask for Unpaid Wages Without Getting Fired?
If your employer isn’t paying you correctly, whether it’s your hourly wages, overtime, commissions, bonuses, split shift premiums, or meal and rest break premiums, you may be wondering how to demand your unpaid wages without getting fired. Matt Ruggles is an...
7 Employee Mistakes That Ruin Severance Negotiations
Most California employees facing a severance agreement have no idea what to do next. Is it negotiable? How much is fair? How aggressive should you be? In that confusion, many fall into employee severance negotiation mistakes right away and those errors destroy...
5 Most Common Wage Violations in California
Matt Ruggles is a California employment attorney with over 30 years of experience litigating unpaid wage claims on behalf of employees. Over the course of his career, he has handled every type of wage dispute—from unpaid commissions and off-the-clock work to...
When Does Workplace Harassment Become Illegal in California?
Matt Ruggles is a California employment attorney with over 30 years of experience litigating workplace harassment cases. Matt has litigated claims under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) in courts and before administrative agencies and helped workers assert...
TWELVE ELEMENTS THAT MAKE A STRONG EMPLOYMENT LAWSUIT IN CALIFORNIA
By Matt Ruggles, California Employment Lawyer After more than 30 years of litigating employment law cases across California, I can now recognize certain fact patterns that differentiate a strong employment lawsuit from a weak one. I’ve represented employees (and...
How Do I Resolve a Missed Meal Period Dispute in California?
Missed meal period disputes are widespread across California workplaces. Many employers not only fail to properly compensate employees when a meal period is missed, but also create a workplace culture where missed, late, or interrupted meal periods become routine. A...
Can My Employer Force Me to Waive My Meal Period in California?
Many California employees wonder, “can my employer force me to waive my meal period?” A recent decision by the California Court of Appeal—Bradsbery v. Vicar Operating, Inc. (2025)—tackles this very question and provides important guidance. The court held that...
How Should I Respond to Sexual Harassment in California?
Sexual harassment in the workplace is wrong, plain and simple. Yet despite policies and growing awareness, many employees still struggle with how to respond to sexual harassment in California when it happens to them. The problem is especially common when the...
How Do I Resolve a Misclassification Dispute in California?
To resolve a misclassification dispute in California, it’s essential to first understand what employee misclassification is and how the law applies to your situation. Misclassification happens when an employer unlawfully labels a worker as “exempt” from overtime. This...
Should I File a Sexual Harassment Lawsuit While Still Employed?
Considering a sexual harassment lawsuit while still employed can feel overwhelming—but careful documentation is one of the most important steps you can take to protect yourself. Experiencing harassment at work is difficult enough, and when you're unsure whether to...
How to Use Leverage in Severance Negotiation
When a California employee is presented with a severance agreement, understanding how to use leverage in severance negotiation is essential to improving the outcome. These agreements often feel like take-it-or-leave-it offers—decided without any input from the...
Mishandled Sexual Harassment Claims: Case Study in California
Sexual harassment and retaliation remain serious issues in the California workplace. Employees who face such treatment often turn to the courts to seek accountability and justice. However, mishandled sexual harassment claims can leave employees without recourse and...
How Do I Resolve an Unpaid Wages Dispute in California?
If you believe your employer has failed to pay you all wages owed—including unpaid regular hours, overtime, or double time—California law provides strong protections and a clear legal framework for you to resolve an unpaid wages dispute and recover money owed to you...
Performance Improvement Plan Insights: Tips from a Lawyer
A Performance Improvement Plan—commonly referred to as a PIP—has become a standard tool in modern workplace management. While once associated primarily with hourly or lower-level employees, PIPs are now frequently used across a wide range of professions, including...
How Do I Resolve a Commission Dispute in California?
If you work in sales or any role where commissions make up part of your compensation, it’s essential to understand your rights under California law. A commission dispute over unpaid or charged back commissions is common—and often arises when employers fail to follow...
What Is a Compensation Plan in California?
If you receive commissions, bonuses, or other variable pay, your employer may have referred you to your “compensation plan.” But what exactly is a compensation plan in California—and what happens if your employer doesn’t follow it? This blog explains what a...
What Is an Advanced Commission in California?
If your paycheck includes commissions, you may have heard your employer refer to certain payments as an “advance.” But what exactly is an advanced commission—and what happens if you don’t stay employed long enough to “earn” the “advanced” commission? This blog...
What Is a Commission Chargeback in California?
If you earn commissions in California, you may have heard the term “chargeback” or “clawback” —when an employer takes back a commission you’ve already been paid. But is that legal? And under what conditions can your employer reclaim money from your paycheck? This blog...
What Are Earned Wages in California?
If your employer hasn’t paid you everything you’re owed, you may be wondering what exactly counts as a “wage” and when that wage becomes “earned.” Under California law, wages include not just hourly pay and salaries—but also commissions, bonuses, and other forms of...
Is Being Fired After Filing a Complaint Considered Wrongful Termination?
Being fired after filing a complaint at work may be considered wrongful termination in the form of workplace retaliation and/or “whistleblowing,” but only if the complaint filed involves a legally protected issue under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act...
Should I Attempt to Negotiate My Severance Offer?
If you've recently been terminated, you may be wondering "should I attempt to negotiate my severance offer?" While it's always possible to attempt negotiation, the real question is whether you have a realistic chance of improving your offer by yourself. I'm Matt...
Commission Chargebacks in California: The Great Rip-Off Scheme
Some California employers are stealing employees' hard-earned wages under the false claim that commissions are merely "advances" — even when those commissions have already been earned. By disguising illegal deductions as lawful commission chargebacks, these employers...
How Do I Select a California Employment Lawyer?
Selecting a California Employment Lawyer: A Practical Guide for Employees Selecting the right California employment lawyer can be the key to a successful outcome when you’re facing a legal problem related to your employment in California. Because there is no formal...
Severance Pay Demand: How to Calculate Effectively
If you’ve been terminated or laid off and your employer offers you a severance package, it’s important to understand why they’re making the offer—often, it’s to obtain a release of any legal claims you might have. This is why many employees respond with a severance...
Workplace Discrimination: 7 Things California Employees Get Wrong
Workplace discrimination occurs when an employer treats an employee unfairly based on a legally protected characteristic. In California, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) is the primary law that defines and protects employees from unlawful discrimination and...
Indefinite Medical Leave: Can My Employer Terminate Me?
California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to help employees with disabilities perform their essential job duties, unless doing so would cause the employer an undue hardship. However, under California...
Wrongful Termination Lawsuits Under FEHA: A Costly Gamble for Employers
Wrongful termination lawsuits under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) can be treacherous terrain for employers. One of the biggest dangers of taking a case to trial is the potential for substantial attorney’s fees awards to prevailing plaintiffs....
How Do I Write A Severance Pay Demand Letter?
If you’ve been offered a severance package—or expect to be—you may be wondering how to respond. A severance pay demand letter is a formal written request in which an employee outlines their concerns with the severance offer, identifies unfair terms, and proposes a...
Forced Arbitration & Sexual Harassment: California Employee Rights
Arbitration is a private legal process where disputes between employees and employers are resolved by a neutral third party, rather than through a public court trial. Many employers include arbitration agreements in their employment contracts, which forces employees...
Is Getting Fired After Exhausting Leave Wrongful Termination?
If your employer terminates you immediately after you have exhausted leave including your 12 weeks of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or California Family Rights Act (CFRA) leave, it raises a significant red flag for potential wrongful termination in the form of...