How to reconstruct unpaid work and missing pay

Start a table with each work date, start and end time, unpaid breaks, job location, rate, promised commission or bonus term, amount on the wage statement, and amount deposited. Preserve the original schedule, timeclock screenshot, delivery or task log, pay stub, bank record, and any written pay agreement. If your hours varied, the Labor Commissioner’s wage-claim instructions specifically ask for the hours and days worked; a consistent reconstruction is more useful than a single total estimated from memory.

Keep different claims in separate columns. Missing base wages, overtime, meal or rest premiums, unlawful deductions, unreimbursed expenses, unused vacation at separation, and unpaid final wages can have different proof and rules. A discrepancy in one pay period may be a payroll error; repeated discrepancies may indicate a broader problem. Record when you notified payroll and exactly what explanation or correction you received.

The Labor Commissioner asks for the legal name and address of the employer because a claim must identify the responsible business or individual. Keep offer letters, W-2 or 1099 forms, wage notices, and supervisor information. A contractor label does not settle worker classification: the Labor Commissioner explains that a worker who may have been misclassified can file a wage claim, and the agency may determine the status at a hearing. If you worked through a staffing company or for multiple entities, map who assigned work, controlled the schedule, and issued payment without guessing who is legally liable.

At termination, save the final check, separation notice, unused vacation balance, and commission terms. California’s final-pay rules depend in part on whether the worker was discharged or quit and, for a quit, whether advance notice was given. Rather than assuming a universal payday, compare the facts to the Labor Commissioner’s current final-pay guidance. Keep possible retaliation for raising pay concerns on a separate dated track.

The Labor Commissioner offers online, email, mail, and in-person wage-claim filing. Its guidance describes an investigation, usually a settlement conference, and sometimes a hearing. Submit copies, not your only originals, and retain a complete filed packet. The agency lists different filing periods: generally three years for many statutory wage violations, two years for an oral promise above minimum wage, and four years for a written contract. These are examples, not a universal deadline for every pay theory.

The wage-claim portal is not the form for a retaliation complaint or every other workplace dispute. If the missing pay may reflect discrimination, equal-pay issues, a public-work project, or a collective bargaining agreement, ask which additional route applies. An attorney can check exemptions, classification, employer identity, remedies, and any private agreement while the records are still available.