In California how many Hours can a Salary or Exempt Employee be asked to Work?
Short answer is: there is no minimum or maximum hours an exempt or salaried employee can work. The problem is usually that the employee might be misclassified as salary or exempt from over time when they should actually be an hourly or non-exempt employee.
This raises the question: How do you know if you are properly classified as exempt or non-exempt from overtime pay?
Employers cannot arbitrarily classify employees however they see fit. If this were the case everyone would be a salaried or exempt employee and companies would no longer have to pay anyone overtime again, saving themselves a boatload of money and working employees as many hours as they choose. California labor law has specific guidelines for classifying employees as exempt. The most common exemptions are as follows:
• Executive exemption
• Administrative exemption
• Professional exemption
• Outside Sales Person exemption
• IT or Computer Software Professionals exemption
• Overtime Pay for inside sales people at a rate of one half
Each of these exemptions is explained on the Department of Industrial Relations web site. The most important thing you can take way from the exemptions is that your job title has nothing to do with whether or not you are exempt from overtime. The main criteria used for deciding if someone can be properly classified as an exempt employee is their actual job duties. What an employee’s true tasks and job functions are will help determine if they should be paid overtime or just a flat salary. Not all managers need to paid salary, and not all assistants need to be paid hourly.
Labor law is complex; if you have any questions regarding your employment it is recommended that you contact a California labor law attorney who can help you understand your rights and in many cases will review your situation without charge.
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