California Labor Law: Off the Clock and Misclassification
California Labor Law regarding overtime exemplifies that the State of California is one of the best employee friendly places in the country to work. California has placed a high premium on the protection of its citizens in the workplace. Minimum wage employees who live paycheck to paycheck cannot afford to risk losing their jobs, so they are forced to adapt to a harsh work environment created by over demanding employers who expect them to work uncompensated overtime.
California Labor Law for overtime takes the basic requirements found in the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) legislation and builds more protection for these employees who often find themselves at the mercy of their employers.
Overtime is accurately defined for non-exempt employees as: any work done in excess of an 8 hour workday or a 40 hour workweek. Under California labor laws daily overtime pay (time and a half) is earned whenever an employee works more than 8 hours in one day. Any hours worked in excess of 12 hours in one day must be compensated at 2 times the employees usual hourly pay rate.
Two of the most common California overtime abuses are (1) employee misclassification; treating the employee as exempt from the right to be paid overtime and requiring that employees work (2) “off the clock.”
Under California law for overtime, all employees must be paid for the time they actually work whether before or after clocking in or out. For example, employees who are required to change into and out of uniforms off the clock are entitled to be reimbursed for the time spent changing cloths. Another example is assistant managers who are paid a salary. If they work overtime but spend a majority of their time performing the same tasks as an hourly employee they must be paid overtime.
If you believe that you have either been misclassified as an exempt employee in California or haven’t been paid overtime that you have earned, you should contact a California Labor Law attorney to review your situation. Call our offices if you have any questions:
415) 200-0012 – 101 California St Ste 2450, San Francisco, CA. 94111
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