What if I was misclassified as a contractor instead of an employee?

If this applies to you, your actual employment status becomes the threshold question the entire case depends on, which makes this meaningfully more complicated than simply running the penalty calculation. California primarily uses what's called the ABC test to determine worker classification for most claims.

Under that test, if your employer controlled and set your work hours, supplied the tools and equipment you used, and directed how you actually performed your work, you likely have a real argument that you were misclassified as a contractor when you were functioning as an employee. It's important to address this classification question directly rather than filing solely on the waiting-time penalty and hoping the classification issue doesn't come up, since it almost certainly will.