An employee or former employee may file a claim (English  Spanish  Chinese  Korean) with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement’s (DLSE) Bureau of Field Enforcement (BOFE) to report the following:

• Violations by an employer of any of the Industrial Welfare Commission Orders respecting payment of the minimum wage, payment of overtime, failure to give meal and/or rest periods, reimbursement for uniforms, payroll record keeping, and cash shortages.
• Violations by an employer of California’s child labor laws.
• Failure by an employer to carry workers’ compensation insurance. Labor Code Section 3700
• Failure by an employer to provide an itemized wage statement at the time of payment of wages.  Labor Code Section 226
• Violations of the laws and regulations relating to the business of garment manufacturing. Labor Code Section 2675 et seq.
• Violations of the laws and regulations respecting farm labor contractors.  Labor Code Section 1682 et seq.
• Violations of the laws and regulations relating to the employment of workers by unlicensed contractors and the utilization of unlicensed contractors and other persons who are not valid independent contractors by licensed contractors.  Labor Code Section 1020 et seq.

• A claim based on an oral agreement must be filed within two years from the date the claim arose.
• A claim based on a written agreement must be filed within four years from the date the claim arose.
• A claim in which a law or regulation creates a liability (e.g., minimum wage, overtime, etc.) must be filed within three years from the date the claim arose.

Once you have submitted your completed, signed and dated claim form, the claim will be assigned for investigation.  An investigator will contact you should additional information be required.  A BOFE claim usually requires that an investigator conduct an on-site inspection of the employer’s business to determine whether violations exist. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement will require an employer to cease any violations of the law that are under its jurisdiction, and criminal or civil citations may be issued for any such violations that are found.  Additionally, the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement will require the back payment of the minimum wage or overtime wages when those wages were not paid in accordance with the law.

• Download, complete, and print the Initial Report or Claim, DLSE Form 1 ( English   Spanish   Chinese   Korean   Vietnamese   Tagalog).
  Please be sure to provide all information on the claim form to avoid delay in the claim process.

• Copies of any documents you have to support your claim should be attached to the claim form. Please DO NOT send originals as they may be lost, damaged, or misplaced.

File your claim either by mail or in person with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement office that handles BOFE claims for the city/location where the work was performed or the violation occurred.  To locate such office, click here for the alphabetical listing of cities/locations.

If you do not already have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer, you should download the free Acrobat Reader from Adobe's web site at www.adobe.com, download instructions are available on the Adobe web site.  Once you have downloaded the Acrobat Reader you can view PDF documents in your web browser if it supports plug-ins, or if it does not support plug-ins, you can save the file(s) to your hard drive and view them by opening them in Acrobat Reader.