Unpaid Wage Cases in California

Since 2005 the U.S. Department of Labor has found $472.4M in back wages owed to 335,130 California workers, in 14,436 cases, and assessed $39.9M in penalties. 943 cases involved child labor violations covering 2,857 minors.

$472.4MBack wages employers agreed to pay

335,130Workers owed back wages

14,436Cases with back wages

What workers weren't paid

Overtime not paid$293.2M (62%)

Prevailing wage on government contracts$93.6M (20%)

Below minimum wage$43.5M (9%)

Other laws (farmworker, visa, leave and more)$42M (9%)

Industries with the most back wages

Full-Service Restaurants$28.3M (6%)

Janitorial Services$12.6M (3%)

Women's, Girls', and Infants' Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors$11.2M (2%)

Security Guards and Patrol Services$10.9M (2%)

Other Residential Care Facilities$10.4M (2%)

Residential Mental Retardation Facilities$10.3M (2%)

Cut and Sew Apparel Contractors$9M (2%)

Home Health Care Services$8.4M (2%)

State Correctional Institutions$8.4M (2%)

Commercial and Institutional Building Construction$8M (2%)

Cases with back wages by year

By city

City	Back wages	Workers	Cases
Los Angeles	$51.1M	39,160	1,874
San Francisco	$20.4M	13,064	404
San Diego	$16.8M	11,700	375
San Jose	$11.1M	4,690	336
Irvine	$9.3M	7,336	111
Sacramento	$8.8M	4,726	333
Palo Alto	$7.4M	942	18
Oakland	$6.6M	5,572	139
Santa Maria	$6.1M	6,218	91
Riverside	$5.9M	3,792	143
Glendale	$5.6M	7,311	82
Anaheim	$5M	4,023	163
Mountain View	$4.9M	3,529	46
Fremont	$4.9M	4,724	108
Corona	$4.7M	3,337	90
Carson	$4.3M	2,578	37
Stockton	$4.2M	4,451	134
South El Monte	$4.2M	3,523	154
Santa Clara	$4.2M	874	76
Santa Ana	$4M	2,604	192
Gardena	$3.7M	1,645	53
Walnut Creek	$3.6M	4,063	56
Fresno	$3.6M	4,221	221
Oxnard	$3.6M	926	74
Orange	$3.4M	3,669	80
Rowland Heights	$3.4M	991	58
El Monte	$3.3M	1,574	58
Compton	$3.3M	1,615	33
Pleasanton	$3.2M	833	38
Van Nuys	$3.1M	1,107	67
Hayward	$3M	1,788	71
San Ramon	$3M	1,705	48
Long Beach	$3M	1,842	105
Pasadena	$2.9M	2,060	77
Woodland Hills	$2.9M	1,129	33
San Leandro	$2.8M	1,217	40
Ontario	$2.8M	2,179	114
Newhall	$2.7M	1,198	17
Livermore	$2.7M	1,489	54
Garden Grove	$2.7M	1,886	134
Hacienda Heights	$2.7M	786	31
Huntington Beach	$2.6M	1,561	66
Agoura Hills	$2.5M	1,135	13
Brea	$2.5M	1,412	31
Salinas	$2.3M	4,123	60
Lancaster	$2.3M	634	56
Concord	$2.3M	1,691	75
Napa	$2.2M	970	55
South San Francisco	$2.2M	607	51
Whittier	$2.2M	1,184	50
San Mateo	$2.2M	988	42
San Clemente	$2.1M	1,874	22
Vacaville	$2M	1,613	49
Fort Irwin	$2M	1,048	25
Northridge	$2M	743	41
Ventura	$2M	872	50
Torrance	$1.9M	1,023	71
Westlake Village	$1.9M	1,007	15
Fullerton	$1.9M	1,400	54
San Bernardino	$1.9M	1,345	75
Monterey Park	$1.9M	1,026	31
Bakersfield	$1.9M	2,340	113
Santa Fe Springs	$1.8M	631	49
Sunnyvale	$1.7M	906	60
North Hollywood	$1.7M	1,682	59
Union City	$1.6M	513	40
Milpitas	$1.6M	648	43
Elk Grove	$1.6M	420	70
Fontana	$1.5M	1,058	63
Cerritos	$1.5M	920	32
El Cajon	$1.5M	2,407	48
Monterey	$1.5M	3,451	16
Rancho Cucamonga	$1.5M	1,013	73
Mission Viejo	$1.4M	468	49
Sun Valley	$1.4M	1,090	27
Brentwood	$1.4M	677	23
Downey	$1.3M	724	34
San Marcos	$1.3M	1,053	27
Costa Mesa	$1.3M	1,279	39
Portola Valley	$1.2M	195	14
Vallejo	$1.2M	514	49
La Puente	$1.2M	1,358	54
Sherman Oaks	$1.2M	1,022	27
Poway	$1.2M	1,276	29
Rialto	$1.2M	273	27
Escondido	$1.2M	1,330	58
Murrieta	$1.2M	650	31
Santa Rosa	$1.2M	675	46
Placentia	$1.2M	1,081	32
Rancho Cordova	$1.1M	802	50
Pomona	$1.1M	1,154	76
Lompoc	$1.1M	638	25
Manteca	$1.1M	315	17
Modesto	$1.1M	930	71
Valencia	$1.1M	803	28
Burlingame	$1.1M	615	26
Carmichael	$1.1M	468	40
Simi Valley	$1.1M	310	33
Thousand Oaks	$1.1M	817	36
West Sacramento	$1M	738	27
Tustin	$999K	589	30
Roseville	$996K	428	60
Chula Vista	$982K	492	61
Campbell	$965K	551	32
Upland	$964K	894	45
El Centro	$963K	837	25
Westminster	$956K	393	40
San Bruno	$937K	227	35
Chino	$933K	962	42
Palmdale	$926K	866	29
Beverly Hills	$906K	574	37
Redwood City	$889K	736	31
West Covina	$866K	549	41
Fairfield	$857K	391	33
Temecula	$856K	828	40
Carlsbad	$848K	517	35
Ridgecrest	$839K	763	15
Huntington Park	$821K	771	25
Vernon	$817K	668	11
North Highlands	$812K	511	16
Clovis	$800K	513	31
Fountain Valley	$799K	742	30
La Jolla	$796K	91	18
Antioch	$794K	345	36
Beaumont	$792K	319	10
Indio	$782K	727	21
Newport Beach	$778K	560	44
Auburn	$768K	382	24
Moreno Valley	$768K	285	33
Paramount	$760K	640	24
Mira Loma	$755K	558	14
Baldwin Park	$743K	475	32
Nipomo	$738K	429	10
San Gabriel	$735K	293	24
El Dorado Hills	$734K	251	14
Rosemead	$734K	338	29
Buena Park	$724K	1,096	47
Newark	$717K	863	20
Studio City	$716K	314	12
San Juan Capistrano	$701K	893	19
Apple Valley	$695K	212	24
Granada Hills	$695K	385	21
Santa Monica	$690K	618	36
El Segundo	$690K	710	24
Signal Hill	$672K	232	12
Covina	$660K	557	36
San Rafael	$658K	273	43
Barstow	$658K	546	20
Burbank	$653K	641	35
San Dimas	$653K	278	28
Inglewood	$650K	506	36
Norwalk	$630K	523	26
Diamond Bar	$630K	133	15
Martinez	$628K	381	19
San Pedro	$624K	163	15
Pleasant Hill	$624K	292	14
Madera	$623K	2,659	76
Chatsworth	$619K	1,371	29
Santa Clarita	$610K	490	21
Victorville	$601K	363	37
City Of Industry	$596K	351	21
Azusa	$595K	578	20
Bloomington	$590K	103	10
Monrovia	$588K	2,130	23
Watsonville	$582K	307	19
Berkeley	$579K	308	27
Petaluma	$574K	304	21
Daly City	$562K	341	22
Los Alamitos	$557K	457	12
Novato	$545K	212	19
Laguna Hills	$545K	126	11
Walnut	$540K	507	32
San Carlos	$539K	79	12
Sylmar	$523K	216	13
Lake Elsinore	$506K	211	15
Lake Forest	$498K	274	20
Redding	$493K	526	90
Folsom	$483K	285	21
La Habra	$475K	449	25
Colton	$464K	2,158	15
Visalia	$458K	1,232	48
Palm Desert	$455K	642	27
Highland	$450K	138	13
Glendora	$446K	194	16
Alhambra	$445K	322	24
San Fernando	$444K	231	11
Encino	$437K	352	26
Canoga Park	$431K	470	36
Spring Valley	$415K	251	17
Moorpark	$412K	545	13
Oceanside	$409K	489	45
National City	$400K	329	23
Ukiah	$398K	291	12
Gilroy	$397K	201	24
Yorba Linda	$394K	293	18
Perris	$391K	405	22
Temple City	$391K	333	15
Turlock	$388K	292	17
Dublin	$388K	197	19
Richmond	$387K	402	20
Morgan Hill	$384K	174	14
West Hollywood	$383K	182	13
Sanger	$372K	217	15
Culver City	$368K	326	25
Danville	$367K	329	16
Altadena	$365K	121	11
Pittsburg	$362K	260	20
Vista	$360K	257	28
Redlands	$348K	232	16
Santee	$346K	207	14
Cypress	$338K	196	17
Santa Barbara	$334K	392	23
Hemet	$331K	175	25
Duarte	$331K	269	16
Tracy	$327K	361	27
San Pablo	$326K	163	12
Reseda	$322K	164	16
Selma	$318K	415	31
Stanton	$313K	360	19
Encinitas	$302K	145	10
Alameda	$300K	198	11
Rocklin	$292K	342	22
Porterville	$290K	322	36
Chico	$284K	186	15
Yuba City	$282K	452	27
Woodland	$281K	311	21
Montebello	$279K	363	20
Arcadia	$277K	165	18
Sonoma	$271K	91	10
Menlo Park	$268K	89	15
Norco	$264K	295	16
Hawthorne	$264K	626	22
Santa Cruz	$263K	237	19
Twentynine Palms	$255K	252	11
Montclair	$254K	216	20
Redondo Beach	$252K	153	12
Atwater	$252K	231	24
Panorama City	$243K	104	19
Claremont	$237K	190	15
Pico Rivera	$235K	286	14
Lafayette	$232K	258	10
Orangevale	$230K	169	12
Laguna Niguel	$229K	78	11
Santa Paula	$228K	235	10
Camarillo	$226K	265	34
Tarzana	$225K	200	11
Bellflower	$221K	123	10
Hesperia	$219K	197	20
Cathedral City	$215K	212	10
Citrus Heights	$211K	243	34
Pinole	$211K	61	10
Fillmore	$206K	324	13
Hanford	$205K	335	20
Grass Valley	$204K	66	11
Menifee	$203K	249	10
Red Bluff	$200K	353	31
La Mesa	$195K	245	18
Castaic	$192K	77	10
Heber	$190K	603	13
Hollister	$183K	109	10
North Hills	$183K	609	15
Fair Oaks	$176K	91	18
Lynwood	$173K	111	13
Lodi	$170K	402	29
Tulare	$168K	91	18
San Luis Obispo	$168K	53	12
La Verne	$164K	87	12
Calexico	$162K	1,207	21
Artesia	$161K	69	10
Pacoima	$159K	67	11
La Mirada	$154K	58	11
La Canada Flintridge	$152K	562	17
Palm Springs	$149K	232	21
Lincoln	$149K	95	12
Lakewood	$148K	87	14
Davis	$143K	57	10
Fallbrook	$141K	123	13
South Gate	$135K	62	14
Los Banos	$127K	668	16
Chino Hills	$123K	347	13
Oakley	$115K	69	10
Soledad	$115K	230	15
Los Gatos	$114K	146	13
Merced	$109K	216	23
Cupertino	$105K	84	10
Emeryville	$98,790	70	11
Paso Robles	$80,886	209	20
Coachella	$74,202	533	13
Delano	$52,149	53	11
Wilmington	$51,206	81	10
Reedley	$48,465	201	23
Dinuba	$45,802	128	10
Orosi	$28,123	537	14
Kingsburg	$23,541	46	10
Kerman	$15,367	290	13

Cities with at least 10 cases with back wages.

Owed wages by a California employer?

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Source: the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division enforcement data (every concluded compliance action since fiscal year 2005), from the DOL Open Data Portal, loaded November 9, 2026. “Back wages” is the amount employers agreed to pay workers after an investigation found they were underpaid; dates are the end of the period the investigation covered. Employer names and addresses are as DOL publishes them. Federal cases only: state labor departments and private lawsuits recover more that isn't counted here.

Lawbamba is not affiliated with the Department of Labor, and this page is general information, not legal advice.