My question involves employment and labor law for the state of: California
My employer is located in California and I work remotely from another state so I am not sure which laws are referenced.
I am currently going through a back and forth with my employer. I noticed that on paychecks I was shorted hours so I brought the issue forth. I notified the client and was told that I needed to gather detailed proof . First it was show them how many hours were missing I provided that. Then it was give detailed days and time worked. I provided that. Then it was show where they "approved" the hours because they were not going to pay for unapproved hours. (Note this was not stated in any documents I signed upon employment). Regardless I brought forth emails and document in which the hours were proved.
This drug on over a 2 week period and I notified them that I was having a lawyer review the documents of employment for further investigation. At this point they refused to speak with me in regards to the issue and stated since I now had legal counsel they would only talk to them. I am trying to keep my lawyer as hands off as needed unless I am forced to pay for their time.
I just wanted to see what my options were and best approaches. Currently I am going to file a "failure to pay wages" with the Department of labor and if need be terminate my contract with the employee and or send the owed debt to collections. Once I made them aware of this they have gone silent from their end.
Are these the best next steps in my situation.
tl;dr : client refuses to pay for hours worked citing reasons that were not listed in my employment contract.

