$15.0M
Recovery for employees denied legally required meal and rest breaks.
Employment
Every Deadline in a California Equal Pay Case
Deadlines decide pay discrimination cases as often as facts do — and California’s were rewritten on January 1, 2026. The core rule is now simple: three years to file, for every violation, with each underpaid paycheck restarting the clock and recovery reaching back up to six years. But an equal pay matter usually involves several claims with several different clocks, and the shortest one you miss is the one that hurts. Here is the complete map.
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Understanding Your Equal Pay Case
Explore essential resources on your rights, your options, and what to expect — everything you need to navigate the legal process, all in one place.
Three separate triggers, any of which counts: when the unlawful compensation decision is adopted, when you become subject to it, and each time compensation resulting from it is paid. This is Ledbetter-style paycheck accrual codified directly into California law by SB 642. The practical consequence is that long-running gaps remain actionable as long as they kept appearing in recent paychecks — the employer cannot run out the clock by pointing to a pay decision made years ago.
A FEHA claim — the vehicle for emotional distress and punitive damages — runs on its own track: three years from the unlawful practice to file with the Civil Rights Department (Government Code § 12960), then one year from your right-to-sue notice to file in court (§ 12965). Because pay discrimination cases are strongest when the Equal Pay Act and FEHA discrimination claims travel together, we calendar both tracks from day one.
The federal Equal Pay Act allows two years (three if willful) and requires no EEOC charge. Title VII requires an EEOC charge within 300 days in California. Federal deadlines matter mainly when a federal claim adds something — for most California employees, state law is stronger on every axis: longer window, six-year lookback, employer burden of persuasion, no exhaustion. Our guide to choosing where to file lays the options side by side.
One year, if you file the retaliation complaint with the Labor Commissioner — a much shorter fuse than the wage claim itself. The DLSE also applies a rebuttable presumption of retaliation when the employer takes adverse action within 90 days of your protected activity, such as asking about pay or filing a claim. If anything happened to your job after you raised the pay issue, our workplace retaliation attorneys can act on the one-year clock — treat it as the controlling deadline and move quickly.
Yes. Separation does not erase the claim — the three-year window runs from the last violation, which for most people is their final underpaid paycheck. Former employees often have the strongest cases: full pay history, comparator knowledge, and no day-to-day exposure to workplace pressure. The six-year lookback applies the same way, so it's worth understanding what the claim is worth before assuming it's too small to pursue.
Meet Our Equal Pay Attorneys
Nationally-Recognized Powerhouse, Fighting for the Justice You Deserve
Our award-winning attorneys have recovered billions for clients while taking on insurance companies and major corporations.
John G. Yslas, Esq.Senior Partner, Chair of the Employment Wage & Hour Class Action Department
Mary Lee Caruso, Esq.Senior Partner
Tyler J. Woods, Esq.Senior Partner
Arrash Fattahi, Esq.Partner
Benjamin Haber, Esq.Partner
Nicol Hajjar, Esq.Partner
Diego Aviles, Esq.Junior Partner
Jeffrey Bils, Esq.Junior Partner
Emily Borman, Esq.Junior Partner
Jose Maria D. Patino, Jr., Esq.Junior Partner
Christina M. LeJunior Partner
William M. Pao, Esq.Junior Partner
Eugene Zinovyev, Esq.Junior Partner$12.0M
Recovery for employees denied legally required meal and rest breaks.
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Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes. Each case is unique and evaluated on its own facts.
How Long Do You Have to Bring a California Equal Pay Claim?
Three years from the last date the cause of action occurs, under Labor Code § 1197.5(i)(1) as amended by SB 642. Critically, § 1197.5(i)(3) defines when a cause of action "occurs": when the pay decision is adopted, when you become subject to it, and each time you receive wages resulting from it. Every underpaid paycheck is therefore a fresh violation with its own three-year window, the continuing violation doctrine and discovery rule are expressly preserved (§ 1197.5(i)(4)), and relief reaches back up to six years from filing (§ 1197.5(i)(2)). Translation: if the gap touched any paycheck in the last three years, you are probably still in time — but every month of delay can push older underpayment past the six-year recovery cap.
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#1 Truck v. Pedestrian Accident Settlement
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#1 Multi-Vehicle Accident Settlement
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#1 Equipment Malfunction Settlement
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#1 Car v. Stationary Object Collision Settlement
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#1 Bus v. Passenger Accident Settlement
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#1 Whistleblower Retaliation Settlement
2023
#1 Underinsured Motorist Settlement
2023
#1 Slip & Fall Accident Settlement
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#1 Negligent Security Settlement
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#1 Ladder Accident Settlement
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#1 Hotel Premises Liability Settlement
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#1 Car v. Car Collision Settlement
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#1 Bicycle Accident Settlement
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#1 Pregnancy Discrimination Settlement
2022
#1 Age/Disability Discrimination Settlement
2022
#1 Wrongful Termination Settlement
2022
#1 Meal & Rest Breaks Settlement
2022
*#1 settlements in California have been awarded by TopVerdict.com. Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes.
Equal Pay FAQs
Our Most Frequently Asked Questions
We've answered the most common ones below. If yours isn't here, call us — we're available 24/7.
Three years from the most recent violation — and because each underpaid paycheck counts as a new violation, the window is usually still open if the gap reached any paycheck in the last three years.
Not necessarily. If paychecks reflecting that decision continued into the last three years, those checks each created fresh claims, and recovery can reach back up to six years from filing.
No — it runs from your last underpaid paycheck. Former employees file these claims routinely.
The wage claim window is three years either way. Retaliation complaints to the Labor Commissioner, though, must be filed within one year.
Because recovery is capped at six years back from filing — every month you wait can push the oldest month of underpayment out of reach.