Misclassification
Called A Contractor. Working Like An Employee.
When the company controls your schedule, your job assignments, your tools, and how the work gets done, the label on your agreement may be wrong. You are most likely an employee, not an independent contractor, no matter what the employer claims. What you lost as a result of being misclassified may be recoverable.
Warning Signs
A Contractor Label Only Works If The Job Really Is Independent
In California, the law looks at the working relationship, not the title on the agreement.
They Decide Your Hours
Shift times, start and finish, and time off all set by the company rather than by you.
They Supply The Tools
Equipment, software, and materials provided for you, with nothing paid for the ones you use yourself.
You Work Only For Them
A contract that bars other clients, or a schedule that leaves no room to take one.
Your Pay Is Missing Parts
No overtime, no reimbursement for costs, and taxes you carry that an employer would have shared.
How We Fight For You
We Apply The Test To Your Actual Job
The label on your contract matters far less than how you actually worked.
01
We Look At How You Worked
Who set your hours, whose equipment you used, whether you could take other clients, and who really controlled the work.
02
We Trace What You Lost
Unpaid overtime, unreimbursed costs, the employer’s share of taxes, and benefits you never received.
03
We Pursue The Right Defendants
Including staffing agencies and the companies that shared control over your work.
Before You Call
Questions We Hear Every Week
If you were paid as a contractor, these are usually the first things people want to know.
Does the label on my contract decide this?
No. Courts look at the reality of the relationship: who controls the work, who provides the tools, and whether you are genuinely running your own business. A wrong label can be corrected.
What could I recover?
Unpaid overtime and minimum wage, reimbursement for costs you covered, and the employer’s share of payroll taxes. The right answer depends on how you were paid and how you were engaged.
I signed an agreement saying I am a contractor.
Those agreements matter, but they are not the final word in California, where the test focuses on the actual working relationship rather than what the paperwork says.
What about the staffing agency?
An agency and a client company can share responsibility, along with anyone else who had control over your work. We look at every party that had a say.
Free Consultation
Let Us Look At How You Actually Worked.
Call our intake manager at (510) 760-7005, or send the form. Bring your agreement if you have one.