Hi Tthere, I am new here but had a question. I was working as a salery employee in a small company. I gave the owner a two week notice and he was very angree. I tried to stick it through the next two weeks but only made it 4 days then left the job because I could not handle the way he was treating me. Now he has not paid me. I walked on the 13th of July and still have not recieved my final 4 day paycheck. I asked him twice now and he says that he has no money because I put his buisness in a bad situation. Last week he told me that it would be at least two weeks before he could pay me but he says now that he thought he only ows me for about 8 hours. What should i do. I contacted some of the other employees to have them sign a letter stating when i worked but they said that they felt threatend by him that they would be fired if they did so. I have not contacted anyone about this yet.

File a complaint of unpaid wages with the CA DLSE

ok, will do tomorrow. Do you know what steps will happen? I heard a rumor that they make the employer pay wages up to the point that the check is paid? I was not looking for that, just wanted to get the money owed to me....about $1000. Will this cost me $ to have someone look into it?
- clueless

They are required to keep records,by law, showing when each employee begins and ends each work period.
The DLSE is free. An attorney would be faster, and if it goes through the courts their fees could be included. Not sure if a settlement (via lawyer) would include some or all of their fees. .

Nope, filing a claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement is free. That's what they're there for. Specifically, see the next to last paragraph (just above the chart).
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Paydays.htm

thank you for all the help. really have helped a lot. I will start the process tomorrow.