My Hourly Rate Was Lowered Without My Knowledge?

Hi everyone. I live in LA and I work freelance in various sections of the entertainment industry (commercials, photo shoots, socials, music videos, live events, etc.) and have been in the industry for almost 8 years now. After being burned several times, I’ve learned to ALWAYS get my booked rate and dates in writing and I ALWAYS check my pay stubs. Even tho direct deposit exists, I still request physical pay checks so I physically HAVE to check everything before depositing. I go thru all my checks at the end of every quarter.

Last quarter, I worked a music festival in Vegas as a local with an LA company I’ve worked with multiple times before. Manager of Company books me at an hourly rate (other sections of the industry have me at a $$$/12hrs rate) via email with notes on who my Direct Supervisor will be, etc. It’s supposed to be about 10 days straight (Mon-Sat, Sun-Wed) with 8-9hr days, but Director Supervisor will advise further. I agree.

About 4 days in, I hear my Direct Supervisor say they probably won’t need me for the last half of Sat and at all on Sunday. I ask Manager of Company if I can still work Sat & Sun since I’m still holding those days. Manager of Company says yes and to come to them on Sat once I sign out with Direct Supervisor. I do so, I work til almost close that night. I even texted Manager of Company confirming my OT is approved as I’m going on hour 13+ on my 6th day in a row working. They respond basically saying they know and all approved, Sunday is a new work week tho. I say ok, all good, what time tomorrow? They respond with a time and where to meet. I give a thumbs up. I work that Sunday (13ish hour day) and thru Wednesday as agreed upon. I sent my hours to Manager of Company. We exchange thank yous and I go on with my drive home and my next job.

While looking thru my check from this, I noticed that there’s a 2nd regular rate that’s lower than my agreed upon regular rate. Not wanting to make assumptions, I asked Manager of Company to email me a breakdown showing how my hours submitted added up to the hours on the paycheck since it didn’t have any specific dates on it. Manager of Company emails me screenshots of the payroll system on their end and asks what I’m missing. I say I can’t really decipher that because there’s 2 rates on my check and I only agreed to one, but my meal breaks do not match what I submitted either… so there’s that. Can Manager of Company please send me a breakdown to show how my check was calculated in relation to my hours worked?

Manager of Company responds saying that when I reported to my Direct Supervisor the rate was what I agreed to, but when they had me work elsewhere it’s at the lower rate. What they sent me is all they have and will show me. I respond saying “Unfortunately, I was not made aware of nor agreed to a lower rate for working elsewhere, especially as I was going into deep OT that Saturday… if I had known that working elsewhere would be a lower rate and that my OT would be essentially downgraded, I would not have agreed to that. Could you please make the corrections on your end based on the hours I worked and the rate agreed upon when you hired me?”

Manager of Company says that the show was closed a while back, so they’ll have to get it approved to reopen and make the adjustments needed. Less than 24 hours later, they email me saying that the request was denied, they can’t reopen the show, and “because different positions have different rates, we have to stick to what your timesheet says”.

My problem is - I was NEVER notified, neither verbally or in writing, that my rate would be different and that my position was technically “changed” when I asked to stay working Sat night and Sunday. I wouldn’t have worked if my rate was lower. I was tired from a long week and was staying with family to work as a local.

My partner is saying I should call the CA labor board, report them, and file a claim with small claims court. Every way I’ve tried to google this, the answers have shown that the money is owed to me. But I want to know, before I before I burn a bridge with this company, - what legal standing do I actually have here?

For additional context: a situation like this would normally push me to simply calculate how much I was shorted, mark it as a lesson learned, and never work with them again. But I do feel like a I have bone to pick for 2 other reasons (making my situation a 3 strike you’re out) 1 - I worked for this company for the 1st time for a live event in LA near the end of 2023. They gave instructions on parking and after walking almost a mile back to my car at night time in DTLA, I informed Manager of Company that I didn’t feel safe parking that far from location. Manager of Company gave me permission to park across the street and submit for reimbursement. I notified them every day that I was parking across the street and the cost, they approved every time. When I submitted my receipts for parking at the end of the job, they refused to reimburse in full saying they provided parking. I chalked it up to a misunderstanding and ate about $150… 2 - At the music festival gig last quarter, I was hearing stories daily about how this company put an entire department (made up entirely of black men, young and old) on flat day rates with no overtime and no minimum or maximum hours per day, but then logged it in their payroll system as if they worked 8 hours that day… they even demoted a guy who tried to bring up the missing OT from his last paycheck. Those guys asked me how they can get away with doing this and I had to tell them “Because they’re betting on you all to not check their work”.

So- where do I go from here?