Former UBS Advisors Sue Firm Over Unpaid Wages and Business Expense Deductions

Posted on April 14th, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Former UBS Advisors Sue Firm Over Unpaid Wages and Business Expense Deductions

From the desk of Jim Eccleston at Eccleston Law

Two former UBS financial advisors have filed a class action lawsuit accusing UBS of failing to reimburse necessary business expenses, unlawfully deducting costs from wages, and delaying payments to employees who quit or were terminated.

As reported by ThinkAdvisor, the advisors filed the lawsuit in California, seeking reimbursement, penalties, restitution, and other relief for themselves and other UBS financial advisors.

The complaint alleges that UBS routinely requires financial advisors to cover reasonable business expenses—including travel, parking, mileage, education, client entertainment, marketing, and support staff wages—without proper reimbursement. ThinkAdvisor reports that, according to the plaintiffs, UBS deducts many of those costs directly from advisors’ wages, violating California labor laws, which mandate employers to indemnify employees for all necessary expenditures incurred while performing their job duties.

The complaint also alleges that UBS improperly withholds commissions. Because UBS pays financial advisors according to a fixed grid rate, commissions should be “reasonably calculable” once a trade closes. However, the complaint alleges UBS fails to pay commissions within ten days of the close of the pay period, violating California’s labor code, as reported by ThinkAdvisor.

 

Eccleston Law LLC represents investors and financial advisors nationwide in securities, employment, transition, regulatory, and disciplinary matters.

Tags: eccleston, eccleston law

Return to Archive

TESTIMONIALS

Previous
Next

This was the best of all possible outcomes and I cannot thank you and the team enough.

Michael S.

LATEST NEWS AND ARTICLES

October 13, 2025
Morgan Stanley Cuts Advisor Deferrals in 2026 Compensation Plan, Boosting Advisor Payouts

Morgan Stanley Wealth Management announced a significant change to its 2026 compensation plan, cutting advisor deferral rates by half while keeping total pay and grid structures largely unchanged.

October 10, 2025
Former Two Sigma Quant Researcher Faces Fraud Charges Over Manipulated Models

Federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have filed parallel actions against Jian Wu, a former quantitative researcher at Two Sigma Investments, alleging he secretly manipulated algorithmic trading models to boost his own compensation by millions of dollars.

October 9, 2025
Former Merrill Lynch Advisors Fight Allegations of Corporate Raid

A dozen former Merrill Lynch advisors who launched their own firm, OpenArc Corporate Advisory, in Atlanta are pushing back against accusations that they orchestrated a “pre-meditated corporate raid.”