Your Trusted Employment Attorneys In Los Angeles County
At Barrera & Associates, we offer comprehensive employment law service for people experiencing mistreatment at work throughout Southern California. We are champions for the rights of employees. If your employer has violated your legal rights, we can help you make things right.
We are proud to serve a diverse clientele, including nurses, executives, laborers and more. Attorney Pat Barrera is fluent in Spanish — se habla español. We offer a free consultation and case evaluation. For assistance, contact our law office in El Segundo, California by calling 424-352-0716.
What Laws Protect California Workers?
California employment laws are extremely employee-friendly, yet they can be complicated because state and federal rules often overlap. These laws are designed to protect workers in different situations, from pay disputes to discrimination at work. While knowing which laws apply is important, using them in real-life cases is rarely simple. Therefore, many people choose to work with an experienced employment attorney.
One of the most critical state laws is the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). This law makes it illegal for employers to discriminate or harass workers based on characteristics such as race, gender, religion, disability or age. It also requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities and helps ensure equal treatment in hiring, promotions and other workplace decisions.
At the federal level, there are several key protections:
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA): Establishes minimum wage, overtime pay and child labor standards for most employees.
- Civil Rights Act (Title VII): Prohibits workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.
- Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities and prevents discrimination based on physical or mental conditions.
- Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA): Protects workers age 40 and older from discrimination in hiring, promotions or termination.
These laws often work together. For example, a worker facing age discrimination may be protected under FEHA and the ADEA. Similarly, a wage dispute could involve state minimum wage laws and the federal FLSA.
Because the interaction between California labor laws and federal protections is complex, workers who feel their rights have been violated may not know which law applies or how to enforce it.
In such situations, working with a California employment lawyer can help employees understand their rights and pursue fair treatment. We can help determine the right legal path, whether through state agencies like the Department of Fair Employment and Housing or federal channels like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
Did Your Employer Treat You Unfairly?
Attorney Barrera is highly experienced and can help if any of the following issues happened to you:
- Workplace discrimination, including age discrimination, race discrimination, gender discrimination, religious discrimination, disability discrimination, pregnancy discrimination and other unlawful workplace discrimination claims
- Wrongful discharge, including termination on the basis of unlawful discrimination or retaliation for making a lawful complaint of discrimination or harassment.
- Wage and hour claims, including unpaid overtime, meal and rest break violations, unreimbursed employee expenses, employee misclassifications and others
- Unlawful employer retaliation, including retaliation for making a complaint of sexual harassment, race discrimination, age discrimination or other prohibited employment practices
- Sexual harassment
- Whistleblower claims
- Class-action claims (e.g., wage and hour class-action claims)
- Severance agreement negotiations
Barrera & Associates is a litigation firm. Our legal team consists of skilled trial lawyers who will protect your rights. Our founding attorney, Pat Barrera, has been recognized by Southern California Super Lawyers each year for the past decade and speaks regularly on employment law topics. We have a proven record of results in employment law claims.
Contact A Employment Lawyer For A Free Consultation
From our office in El Segundo, we represent clients throughout Southern California. To schedule a free consultation with an employment law attorney at our firm, call 424-352-0716 or contact us by email.
