Under Labor Code §1194, an employee who successfully sues to recover unpaid minimum wage or overtime is entitled to recover, in addition to the unpaid wages:
Explanation
Labor Code §1194(a) lets an employee who prevails on a minimum wage or overtime claim recover the unpaid balance plus interest, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs of suit. The fee shift runs one way, which is what makes small wage claims worth bringing. (a) imports a punitive multiplier the section does not contain. (c) is the American rule, which would apply in an ordinary contract suit but is displaced here by §1194. (d) is the belief that the wages are the whole remedy - it would leave a worker owed $900 paying a lawyer several times that to collect it.
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