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The Global Insight

Is it legal to pay employees different wages for the same job?

Author

Michael Gray

Updated on March 16, 2026

Effective January 1, 2017, Governor Brown signed a bill that added race and ethnicity as protected categories. California law now prohibits an employer from paying its employees less than employees of the opposite sex, or of another race, or of another ethnicity for substantially similar work.

What to do if you have been paid incorrectly?

If you’re not getting anywhere

  1. Step 1: speak to a trade union. If you’re in a trade union, they might be able to negotiate with your employer for you.
  2. Step 2: raise a grievance. Check if your employer has a formal grievance procedure you can use.
  3. Step 3: early conciliation.
  4. Step 4: take your employer to a tribunal.

Is it legal to make an employee pay for a mistake?

Employers can’t take money out of an employee’s pay to fix up a mistake or overpayment. Instead, the employer and employee should discuss and agree on a repayment arrangement. If the employee agrees to repay the money, a written agreement has to be made and has to set out: the reason for the overpayment.

Can I sue my employer for unfair wages?

Can I sue my employer for unpaid wages in California? When an employer fails to follow California wage and hour laws, you may be able to recover the unpaid wages through filing a wage claim with the labor commissioner or filing a lawsuit against your employer.

How long can an employer not pay you?

To discourage employers from delaying final paychecks, California allows an employee to collect a “waiting time penalty” in the amount of his or her daily average wage for every day that the check is late, up to a maximum of 30 days.

Can my employer sue me for a mistake?

Negligence. Typically, an employee is not held liable for ordinary carelessness or negligence in the performance of their duties. However, if an employee acts outside the scope of reasonableness, causing damage or injury to either property or persons, an employer may be able to sue an employee for negligence.

When to write to HR about incorrect salary?

Apart from these, there may be other reasons for incorrect salary or a salary amount that is different from what the employee was expecting. For such issues, an employee may write to the HR and inquire for the breakdown of the current salary. I am writing to inquire about the amount I received as the salary for this month.

What’s the difference between hourly and salary pay?

There is a significant difference in payment between hourly and salary employees. For the former, an employer pays for each hour they have worked, including overtime pay (if they have done more than 40 hours per week or other contracted number).

How is the hourly rate calculated for an employee?

Workers paid hourly are compensated by multiplying the agreed hourly rate by the total number of hours worked in a given period (e.g., month, week or day). Let’s assume that hourly rate equals $14 and the employee has worked 120 hours per month (with no overtime). So, the salary looks like this: $14/hour * 120 hours= $1680.

Is there a way to convert yearly pay to hourly pay?

It is a flexible tool that allows you to convert your annual remuneration to an hourly paycheck, recalculate monthly wage to hourly rate, weekly rate to a yearly wage, etc. This salary converter does it all very quickly and easily, saving you time and effort.