To kick off the California Workplace Rights Blog, the blog is reviewing 10 of the most often violated employee wage and hour rights.
At the top of the list of frequently violated workplace rights is unpaid overtime. California law requires California employers to pay employees at time and a half for all hours worked over 8 hours in a day and 40 hours in a week and to pay two times the employee’s regular rate for all hours worked over 12 hours in a day. Additionally, employees who work seven days in a row must receive time and a half for the first 8 hours worked on the seventh day and double time for every additional hour.
Some employers try to get around the law by paying their employees a salary instead of an hourly wage. The employers tell employees they are “overtime exempt” because they receive a salary. The truth is exceptions to California’s overtime law are very narrow. Most California employees, even those that are paid a salary, must receive overtime pay. Employers who don’t properly pay their employees overtime are committing wage theft, which is a misdemeanor crime. (Labor Code Sec. 553).
Other employers tell employees that the employees aren’t eligible for overtime because they are managers or assistant managers. But the law looks at many other factors than just job title to decide whether an employee is overtime exempt. For example, if a manager or assistant manager doesn’t earn more than twice the minimum wage or spends more than half his or her time doing the same work as non-managerial employees, then he or she should receive overtime pay.
California law provides powerful tools for employees to recover unpaid overtime. If you think your employer has failed to pay you overtime, email or call the Law Offices of G. Samuel Cleaver at 323-648-6676 for a free consultation today.
