How many of you work late into the night? Do you get compensated for the extra hours? These are some of the employment issues that arise in various organizations. However, today you can get legal representation from experienced employment attorneys such as UELG. But first, it is important to understand what exemption from the overtime laws mean. For better understanding, one should get acquainted with the following terms:

1. Overtime

Overtime is the extra working hours beyond the normal working hours. The normal working hours depend on various factors, for instance:

• Agreement between the employer and the employee on the working hours
• The profession or trade e.g. Doctors, Engineers, Nurses, Drivers, Teachers, Lawyers, among others.
• Legislation; the labor or employment laws

2. Labor laws

Labor laws are present in every state or country. It is essential as it helps prevent disputes among workers and employers. An employer may decide to force his or her employees to work extra hours without compensating them. Alternatively, the law considers other factors such as health of the employees. This ensures productivity as it preserves the health of workers.

Exemption from overtime laws

With all that said, the concept of overtime can now be explained. First, if you work for longer hours, your employer should pay you. However, not all employees get compensated. When you get paid for the extra time, you are Non-exempt employee otherwise you are exempt employee. In other words, you are exempted from overtime pay. For more information, read through the following topics:

Affected employees

The labor law affects the executive, administrative, and professional employees. They further include the following;

• Employees in the computer software field: If they are paid on hourly basis and they meet the requirements stated in the orders, they are exempted from the overtime laws.
• Drivers: if you are a driver plus your working time is regulated by the U.S Department of Transportation Code of Federal Regulations, then you are exempted. Nevertheless, those drivers whose hours are regulated by the Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations are exempted as well. In addition, Taxi cab drivers do not enjoy the privileges of non-exempt employees.
• Airline employees: Only those workers who work over 40 but not more than 60 hours during the work weeks due to changes not required by their employer but only at the request of the employee.
• Announcers, News Editor or Chief Engineer working in a radio station with a population less than 25,000 people.

Other employees affected include:

• Baby sitters especially under 18 years of age babysitting a minor in the employer’s house.
• Those employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
• Irrigators,
• Sheepherders
• Professional actors

Bottom line

There are legal institutions that deal majorly with employment issues. You can visit the United Employment Law Group for any assistance.

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As per the California Law, in case of ” non exempt employees”, the employer has certain responsibilities like paying for overtime and meal expenses. In case of ” exempt” employees, there are no such rules. In order to claim exemption, it is up to the employer to prove that the employee is exempt. Here are some of the most common exemptions under the California Law:

1. Managerial Exemption: In order to claim Managerial Exemption, the employee must meet the following points:i) The employee must have managerial responsibilities in one of the department or sub division of the enterprises.
   ii) The employee must be in charge of supervision of at least two employees.
   iii) Employee has the authority to hire a person or fire a person.
   iv) Employee frequently takes important decisions while performing his or her duties.
   v) The monthly salary of the employee should be at least 2 times more than the minimum wage of the state.

   2. Administrative Exemption:

   In order to claim this exemption, the employee must meet the following requirements:

   i) Employee spends majority of the time in work which is related to the normal business operations.
   ii) Employee always works under the supervision of a manager.
   iii) The monthly salary of the employee should be at least 2 times more than the minimum wage of the state.

   Computer Professional Exemption:

   In order to qualify for this exemption, the following guidelines has to be met:

   i). The employee must spend majority of the time in any one of the following works:
   a) Interacting with the users in order to improve the existing hardware and software systems.
   b) Involved in the design, development and testing of the various computer programs.
   ii) The employee must be extremely skilled and well aware about the different computer systems and their application.
   iii) The hourly wage of the employee must be above the minimum limit.

   4. Inside sales employee: In order to claim exemption under this head, the following guidelines must be met:

   i) The wage of the employee must be more than 1.5 times the minimum wage limit of California.
   ii) Majority of the compensation of the employee must be in the form of commissions.

2. Outside sales employee: In this case, these are the following guidelines which must be met:i) Must be at least 18 years of age.
   ii) The employee must spend majority of the time working in locations outside the place of the business.
   iii) Must be involved in selling only tangible items.

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California has great general provisions. In this state nonexempt employees who are over 18 years of age and minor employees between the age of 17 and 18 years that are not required by the law to attend school and not prohibited to engage in work, cannot be employed for over 8 hours in any working day or over 40 hours in a workweek unless they will receive overtime pay. The Californian overtime laws protect workers from the abuses related to work. The following are some of the overtime laws that your company may be violating:
The Minimum Wage in California

Since January 1st 2014, the minimum wage in California should be $9 per hour worked. Therefore, if the wage in your organization is below this, you might be breaking the labor law.

California Time and a Half

Every employer should pay their workers one and a half times the hour rate if they are working overtime. Unlike the Federal law that dictates overtime should be the additional hours a person has worked after 40 hours in a week, in California overtime is also after the 8th working hour in any work day.

California Double Time

In addition to the one and a half times the hour rate an individual get for the overtime they work, they should also get double the normal rate when working after the 12th hour in a single day.

California Seventh Day Rule

All California workers also enjoy protection for working 7 consecutive days. In this case, the employer has to pay the 7th day at a time and a half the normal rate and pay double this amount after the 8th hour.

Working Off the Clock

This isn’t allowed. According to California labor laws, an employer shouldn’t require workers to finish closing duties, to change into uniform at work or even to complete the work while clocked out. A worker should report to the relevant authorities when this happens.

Stand By or On-Call Pay

The California law states that an employee should get full payment when they are under the control of their employer. Any worker on call or standby status falls under this rule but more often employers do not pay them accordingly.

The California overtime laws seem to be fairly straightforward. However, in most cases they are usually complex than anticipated. Some workers are lawfully exempt form the overtime pay laws and are entitled to the overtime pay under the federal law and the California labor law. The employees are within three categories including professional, executive and administrative. There are employers who classify their workers “exempt” as a way of avoiding to pay them overtime.

If you, or someone you know, are facing legal issues in the workplace United Employees Law Group has the answers. Call Today for your free and confidential case review. Please feel free to CONTACT US with any questions about this blog or your exact situation.

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