Ten Things California Employees Believe That Aren’t True
The most common reason employees don’t pursue valid claims is not that they lack a case. It’s that they believe something about the law that is wrong — a misconception picked up from a manager, a coworker, the internet, or a general sense of how things work. These are the ten misconceptions that cost California employees the most.
Employment law is one of those areas where common knowledge is frequently wrong. Employees internalize rules that don’t exist, accept limitations the law doesn’t impose, and forgo rights they don’t know they have — all because the misconception is more familiar than the statute. What follows are the ten beliefs that most often prevent California employees from recognizing, evaluating, and pursuing legitimate claims.
1. “California is an at-will state, so my employer can fire me for any reason.”
This is half true and completely misleading. California is an at-will state, which means the employer can fire you for no reason. It does not mean the employer can fire you for any reason. The distinction is everything. An employer cannot fire you because of your race, sex, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, pregnancy, national origin, or any other protected characteristic. It cannot fire you for reporting harassment, for taking medical leave, for filing a wage claim, for refusing to break the law, or for exercising virtually any right the Labor Code gives you. At-will is the default. The exceptions swallow most of it.
2. “I was on probation, so I had no rights.”
Probation is an employer’s internal designation. It is not a legal status. California law does not recognize a category of “probationary employee” with reduced rights. Every employment protection — anti-discrimination, anti-harassment, anti-retaliation, wage and hour, overtime, meal and rest breaks — applies from the first day of employment. A probationary employee who is fired because of their race has the same claim as a twenty-year veteran.
3. “My employer is too small for the law to apply.”
FEHA’s anti-harassment protections apply to employers with one or more employees. Anti-discrimination and reasonable accommodation apply at five employees. Every wage and hour protection — minimum wage, overtime, meal breaks, rest breaks — applies to every employer regardless of size. The only significant size-based limitation is CFRA leave (five employees), federal COBRA (twenty), and federal FMLA (fifty). For the vast majority of protections, five employees is the threshold, and many protections have no threshold at all.
4. “I can’t discuss my pay with coworkers.”
You can. Labor Code sections 232 and 232.5 specifically protect your right to disclose, discuss, and inquire about wages. The Equal Pay Act separately prohibits retaliation for discussing pay. And section 7 of the federal National Labor Relations Act protects wage discussions as concerted activity — even for non-union workers. An employer that tells you compensation is confidential, or that disciplines you for discussing pay, is violating the law.
5. “I signed an arbitration agreement, so I can’t sue.”
An arbitration agreement changes the forum — from a courtroom to an arbitrator’s hearing room — but it does not eliminate your claims. The same statutes apply, the same damages are available (if the agreement meets the Armendariz requirements), and the same legal standards govern the case. Moreover, many arbitration agreements contain provisions that are unconscionable and unenforceable under California law. A wholesale waiver of representative PAGA enforcement is unenforceable, although the individual component may have to be arbitrated under Viking River and Adolph. An arbitration agreement is a factor in the analysis, not the end of it.
6. “I signed a non-compete, so I can’t work for a competitor.”
Non-compete agreements are void in California. Business and Professions Code section 16600 provides, with narrow exceptions for the sale of a business, that every contract restraining a person from engaging in a lawful profession is void. Your employer cannot enforce it, and recent legislation (SB 699 and AB 1076) makes it unlawful to even attempt to enforce it or to threaten enforcement. You can work for a competitor, start a competing business, and solicit clients — regardless of what you signed.
7. “I quit, so I can’t have a wrongful termination claim.”
If you resigned because conditions became so intolerable that a reasonable person would have felt compelled to leave — and if those conditions were created by discrimination, retaliation, or some other unlawful conduct — your resignation may be treated as a constructive termination. The law recognizes that some resignations are not voluntary in any meaningful sense, and it treats them as firings. A resignation does not automatically foreclose a claim.
8. “I don’t have a disability — I just have [depression / anxiety / a bad back / diabetes].”
FEHA defines disability more broadly than most people expect. A physical or mental condition that “limits” a major life activity — without the word “substantially” — is a disability. The condition does not need to be permanent. Depression, anxiety, PTSD, chronic pain, diabetes, epilepsy, and hundreds of other conditions qualify. If your condition affects your ability to work, concentrate, sleep, walk, or perform any major life activity, it is almost certainly a disability under California law — and you are entitled to reasonable accommodation.
9. “HR is there to help me.”
HR serves the employer. Its function is to manage the employer’s legal risk, not to advocate for the employee. This does not mean HR is the enemy — a competent HR department can resolve legitimate complaints and improve workplace conditions. But an employee who treats HR as a neutral advocate is misunderstanding the structural incentive. HR’s job is to protect the company. An attorney’s job is to protect you. When the interests diverge — and in a discrimination or retaliation situation, they almost always do — understand whose side each person is on.
10. “It’s been too long — I missed my chance.”
Maybe. But maybe not. FEHA provides three years to file an administrative complaint with the CRD — far longer than the federal deadlines most people have in mind. Most wage claims have a three-year statute of limitations, extendable to four under the UCL. Even the shorter deadlines — two years for Tameny claims, one year for PAGA — are longer than many employees assume. The only way to know whether your claim is timely is to check the specific deadline that applies to the specific claim. An attorney can do this in the first consultation.
The cost of misconception
Each of these misconceptions has a real-world consequence. An employee who believes they have no rights during probation does not call a lawyer when they are fired for a discriminatory reason during their first month. An employee who believes their employer is too small does not pursue a harassment claim against a five-person company. An employee who believes they signed away their rights does not investigate whether the arbitration agreement is enforceable.
The misconceptions do not serve the employee. They serve the employer — because every employee who accepts a false limitation is an employee who does not assert a real right.
The purpose of this article — and of this entire collection — is to replace the misconceptions with the law. The law is more protective than most people think. The deadlines are longer than most people assume. The rights are broader than most employers disclose. And the first step in protecting a right is knowing it exists.
If any of these misconceptions has prevented you from evaluating a potential claim — because you thought you were on probation, because you thought your employer was too small, because you thought you signed away your rights, because you thought it was too late — the misconception may have cost you. The only way to know is to check the law, not the assumption.
This article is general information about California law and is not legal advice. Every situation turns on its particular facts.