Walk It Through: The Short Paycheck
$15.00 an hour from 2026, pay due the day of discharge, and small claims up to five thousand dollars.
A line cook's first paycheck works out to less than the minimum wage for the hours on the time sheet.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One paycheck and one cook. Tipped wages, overtime, and a complaint to the state labor department are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.