How to Get Help: Demanding Your Rights at Work

If you believe that you are owed wages or have been denied access to other workplace rights, please call our Workers' Rights Clinic. Workers' Rights Clinic staff are trained to provide advice and guidance about how to enforce your rights at work. In some cases, our Workers' Rights Clinic will coordinate with the Wage Protection Program team to offer further assistance with a worker’s case, which could include preparing a demand letter to their employer, filing a wage claim with the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, or representing the worker in administrative or court proceedings.
  • Clinic Information

If you received a notice or have a scheduled date for an upcoming Conference or Hearing before the California Labor Commissioner, and are interested in assistance or having a trained legal advocate represent you, you can reach out to our office by calling 415-864-8848 and letting staff know of the date of your Conference or Hearing. Please note that we are not always able to represent every worker who contacts us, but we will do our best based on our current caseload and availability.

Sample Letters and Forms

You can download these Word documents and use them to make formal requests of your employer

Do-It-Yourself Guides

You may be able to handle your case yourself. Here are guides to making a claim for wages you should have been paid but weren't, and to collecting the judgment after you win.

Highlights of Our Work

Here are some of our most recent achievements in cases related to wage theft.
  • California Orders Prominent Burger King Franchise Owners to Pay Workers $2.2 Million in Stolen Wages and Penalties

    SAN FRANCISCO - In a much-anticipated decision, 230 workers must be paid over $22 million in stolen...

    Learn More
  • Burma Superstar Workers Win $1.3 Million-Dollar Class Action Settlement
    Burma Superstar Workers Win $1.3 Million-Dollar Class Action Settlement

    ALAMEDA, CA (June 3, 2020)  – The Alameda Superior Court entered judgment yesterday approving a...

    Learn More
  • Legal Aid at Work Wins Denial of Motion to Compel Arbitration in Class Action against Juul in Published Decision
    Juul can’t arbitrate a wage-and-hour lawsuit filed by canvassers for its unsuccessful 2019 bid to legalize e-cigarettes in San Francisco, a California federal judge has ruled.
    Learn More
  • Juul and The Coalition for Reasonable Vaping Regulation Sued for Misclassification, Wage Theft
    Juul and The Coalition for Reasonable Vaping Regulation Sued for Misclassification, Wage Theft

    San Francisco (March 4, 2020) — Juul Labs, Inc was sued in federal court on Wednesday for...

    Learn More

Additional sources of information and help

  • California Labor Commissioner's Office (part of the Department of Industrial Relations)
    Learn More
  • Labor Commissioner’s Office: How to File a Retaliation Claim
    Learn More
  • Department of Fair Employment and Housing: Human Trafficking
    Learn More
  • U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division
    Learn More