 Lauren Teukolsky’s “Wage and Hour Case Notes” were published in the November 2025 edition of the California Labor and Employment Law Review. Her column describes recent decisions from California’s appellate courts that affect wage-and-hour law, including Iloff v. LaPaille, a California Supreme Court case that makes it easier for employees to prove minimum wage violations.
The California Lawyers Association (CLA) is a voluntary statewide bar association. Ms. Teukolsky was recently appointed to serve on the Executive Committee of CLA’s Labor & Employment Section. Her three-year term started in October 2024. Ms. Teukolsky has written for CLA’s California Labor and Employment Law Review for over two years. Her “Wage and Hour Case Notes” are published every other quarter. Ms. Teukolsky has represented workers for over two decades, and her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, Law.com, and the Los Angeles Times. If you would like to speak with Ms. Teukolsky about a wage-and-hour matter, click here.
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LA COUNTY METRO FAILS TO PAY ITS WORKERS FOR REQUIRED TIME SPENT WORKING ON PRE-SHIFT ACTIVITES8/6/2025  Johnny Johnson and Hugo Sipaque are suing their former employer, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), for failing to properly compensate hourly metro workers. The lawsuit alleges that LACMTA violated the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by requiring line instructors to be present 15 to 30 minutes before they clocked in for their scheduled shift.
The plaintiffs argue that if they didn’t show up early, they’d be in trouble. LACMTA allegedly enforced this requirement but failed to pay its line instructors for the time spent on pre-shift work on LACMTA premises. The lawsuit also alleges violations for failure to pay overtime wages because the additional time worked from pre-shift activities caused some employees to work more than 40 hours a week. LACMTA’s failure to compensate workers for all hours worked also causes them to produce inaccurate wage statements. Plaintiffs believe that a class of around 700 current and former employees all suffered similar violations while working for LACMTA in the past four years. They allege their claims amount to $26 million in damages. Lauren Teukolsky is an expert on wage-and-hour laws. She has written for the California Labor and Employment Law Review for over two years. Her “Wage and Hour Case Notes” are published on an alternating quarterly basis. Ms. Teukolsky has represented workers for over two decades and her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, Law.com, and the Los Angeles Times. If you would like to speak with Ms. Teukolsky about a wage-and-hour matter, click here. BUSINESS GROUPS SEEK TO OVERTURN LOS ANGELES’ “OLYMPIC WAGE” BY FORCING A CITYWIDE REFERENDUM6/10/2025  Several cities spanning southern California have enacted minimum wage increases effective July 1, 2025. While the state’s minimum wage is set at $16.50, many local jurisdictions have enacted higher minimum wages in response to the increased cost of living in the state. According to the Living Wage Calculator from MIT, an individual would need to earn at least $27.81 an hour working full-time to cover basic necessities while living in Los Angeles County by themselves. On July 1, 2025, the minimum wage rate per hour for the city of Los Angeles will be set at just $17.87.
The City of Los Angeles has also implemented industry-specific minimum wage increases. On May 27, 2025, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass signed an ordinance dubbed the Olympic Wage. The ordinance establishes a $22.50 minimum wage increase for airport and hotel workers effective July 1, 2025, and sets a path for a $30 minimum wage by the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The ordinance encountered pushback from business groups. A coalition of airline, hotel, and concession companies are circulating a petition to force a citywide vote on the ordinance. They argue that the increasing the minimum wage hurts small businesses in the tourism industry who will be forced to lay off workers. To successfully force a citywide referendum, the petition needs about 93,000 signatures within 30 days to be placed on the ballot in an upcoming election. Some labor unions have launched a “Defend the Wage LA” campaign to defend the ordinance. UNITE HERE Local 11, a union representing hotel and restaurant workers, lobbied for the passage of the minimum wage ordinance. Their represented workers rallied on June 4, 2025, at Los Angeles City Hall to oppose the referendum and urging voters to not sign the petition. The union issued a news release stating: “Rather than paying workers what they deserve, the industry which has already spent over 1 million dollars to stop their workers from earning a livable wage, is expected to spend millions more on this referendum” For more on the latest developments in employment law, visit our blog here. If you believe your employer may have violated workplace laws, click here to get in touch with our office.  Lauren Teukolsky was recently quoted in a Law 360 article about an ongoing legal challenge to California Assembly Bill 5 (A.B. 5). A.B. 5 requires all workers to be classified as employees, not independent contractors, unless they meet the criteria of a three-pronged test. Employers have brought multiple challenges to the law on free speech, equal protection, and preemption grounds. The latest challenge to the law comes from the trucking industry in a bid to avoid classifying motor carriers as employees.
Ms. Teukolsky explains that employee classification requires employers to provide protection and benefits like overtime pay, minimum wage, workers compensation, and unemployment insurance. The Law 360 article quoted Ms. Teukolsky, who said: “Companies save a lot of money by misclassifying their workers as independent contractors, so it does not surprise me to see that companies are bringing every type of challenge they can to A.B. 5. It just shows you how important the law is in providing these really essential worker protections." Ms. Teukolsky has represented workers for over two decades, including in employee misclassification cases. Her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, Law.com, and the Los Angeles Times. To read the Law 360 article, click here. If you believe you’ve been treated unlawfully in the workplace and want to get in touch with our office, click here. LAUREN TEUKOLSKY TO SPEAK IN MARCH 2025 AT LA COUNTY BAR’S ANNUAL LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW SYMPOSIUM1/30/2025 Lauren Teukolsky is set to speak at the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s 45th annual Labor & Employment Law Section Symposium. The LACBA symposium will take place on Wednesday, March 19 at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. Ms. Teukolsky will speak on a panel alongside Tritia Murata, Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, Cynthia Sandoval, mediator at Sandoval Mediation, and Todd Ratshin, Deputy Secretary of Enforcement at the California Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA).
The panel will discuss the changes made to Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) law in the past year, including the recent appellate decisions about “headless” PAGA cases, the introduction of the early evaluation conference process, the limitations on violations that plaintiffs can assert, and the greater number of violations that employers can cure. The panel will reflect on how these changes impact their work and approach to PAGA litigation. Speakers will also touch on the state of wage-and-hour laws ranging from healthcare workers’ minimum wage to protections for child social media influencers. Ms. Teukolsky has worked to protect employees’ rights for over two decades and speaks regularly at conferences on employment law. Earlier this month, Ms. Teukolsky spoke at the Berkeley Law School Conference on Gender Discrimination and Harassment Law about a new federal law that excludes sexual harassment claims from arbitration. She recently spoke about PAGA at the UCLA Law Women LEAD conference, and moderated a session at CELA’s (California Employment Lawyer Association) Annual Employment Law Conference on individual wage-and-hour arbitrations. Her commentary on the latest developments in employment law is regularly featured by major publications such as Bloomberg Law, Law360, Law.com, and the Los Angeles Times. To register for the LACBA Symposium on March 19, click here. If you believe you’ve been treated unlawfully in the workplace and want to get in touch with our office, click here.  AB 1228 took effect on April 1, 2024, meaning fast-food workers across California are now subject to a new $20 minimum wage. Many of the state’s more than half a million fast-food workers will see their wages raised as a result.
AB 1228 was signed into law last fall by Governor Gavin Newsom. Proponents of the bill believe the new play floor is necessary in light of changes to the fast-food industry’s workforce. Whereas in the past fast-food workers were often teenagers trying to earn spending money, nowadays fast-food workers are largely adults trying to support their families. Despite California’s $16 minimum wage, the second highest in the nation, many of these workers still find themselves in search of additional jobs to make ends meet. Critics of the bill, many of whom are franchise owners, have complained that the law will force them to lay off staff and pass on their increased costs to customers. However, researchers have found that, as California doubled its minimum wage over the past decade, wages increased without employment falling. The new minimum wage increase will apply to restaurants offering limited or no table service and which are part of a national chain with at least 60 establishments nationwide, with some exemptions. The law also figures to increase the wages of those outside of the fast-food industry, as employers compete for employees that may now be attracted to the industry’s higher minimum wage. |
AuthorLauren Teukolsky is the founder and owner of Teukolsky Law, A Professional Corporation. Archives
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Teukolsky Law, A Professional Corporation, represents clients throughout California. Ms. Teukolsky is admitted to practice in the State of California, as well as the United States Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Northern District of California and Central District of California. Disclaimer.
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