HR Compliance for California Employers.

California's Private Attorneys General Act lets individual employees sue on behalf of the state for technical Labor Code violations — late paychecks, incorrect wage statements, missed meal or rest breaks. Penalties stack per employee per pay period: $100-$200 per violation, doubled for repeat offenses. A 25-person company with a year of technical errors can face $200K+ in PAGA exposure. The employee keeps 25%, attorneys keep ~33% on contingency, and the state keeps 35%. We focus heavily on PAGA prevention because it's the single most expensive employment risk California employers face.

AB-1825 (now expanded by SB-1343) requires all California employers with 5+ employees to provide sexual harassment prevention training: 2 hours for supervisors, 1 hour for non-supervisors, every 2 years. Must include practical examples, be interactive, and cover specific topics including bystander intervention. We deliver compliant training and document completion so you can prove compliance during a Department of Industrial Relations audit.

Exempt employees don't get overtime; non-exempt employees do. California's exemption tests are stricter than federal — the salary threshold is higher (2x state minimum wage for full-time), and the duties test is interpreted more narrowly. Most exemption misclassifications fail the duties test: a 'manager' who spends most of their time doing the same work as the people they supervise is probably non-exempt. We review your classifications and flag the risky ones before the Labor Commissioner does.

California's ABC test presumes every worker is an employee unless the hiring entity proves all three prongs: (A) free from control, (B) performs work outside the usual business, and (C) customarily engaged in an independently established trade. Most '1099 contractor' relationships fail prong B. Misclassification triggers back wages, taxes, workers' comp premiums, and PAGA exposure — easily six figures for a single misclassified worker over a couple years. We audit your contractor relationships and flag the risky ones.

Timecards (4 years minimum, 6 recommended). Payroll records (4 years). Itemized wage statements (3 years). Meal and rest break records (4 years). Personnel files (during employment + at least 3 years after). Sexual harassment training records (2+ years). Failure to produce these during a wage-and-hour audit results in the auditor estimating against you, which always goes the wrong way. We give clients a records-retention schedule and audit it during our annual review.

Non-exempt California employees get a 30-minute unpaid meal break by the end of the 5th hour worked, plus a 10-minute paid rest break for every 4 hours (or major fraction). Missed or late meal breaks incur a 1-hour premium pay penalty per violation. Missed rest breaks incur the same. These penalties stack daily and are a top PAGA trigger. We help employers structure shifts and time-tracking to prevent violations.

No, but operating without one is incredibly risky. The handbook is what establishes your at-will employment relationship, your anti-harassment policy, your leave policies, your meal/rest break rules, your discipline framework, and the dozens of California-required policies (CFRA, kin care, sick leave, pregnancy disability leave, etc.). When an employee sues, the first thing their lawyer asks for is the handbook. If you don't have one, or have a generic one not specific to California, you lose key defenses. We draft and annually update California-specific handbooks.

Technically yes for any non-discriminatory, non-retaliatory reason — California is at-will. Practically, every termination is a potential wrongful termination claim. The plaintiff's bar in California is aggressive: even meritless claims cost five figures to defend. The best defense is documentation: written performance reviews, written warnings, a written termination decision with a clear reason, and a final pay calculation that meets the 'final paycheck on the day of termination' rule. We coach managers through termination decisions and produce the documentation, working with counsel when the situation is high-risk.