California law for overtime is evidence that one of the best places in the country to work is the State of California which places a high premium on the protection of their citizens in the workplace. Minimum wage earners who most often live from paycheck to paycheck and can’t afford to risk their jobs by turning down unreasonable demands by employers for them to work overtime are the workers these laws are meant to protect.
California law for overtime takes the basic requirements found in the FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) legislation and builds more protection for these workers who often find themselves at the mercy of their employers. These laws are founded on the right of all employees to be paid for all their work which furthers the employer’s business.
Overtime is precisely 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 reimbursed at 2 times the employees usual hourly pay rate.
Two of the most common California overtime mistakes include employee misclassification and employers requiring that employees work “off the clock.” Under California law for overtime, all employees must be paid for the time they actually work whether before or after clocking out. So employees who are made to change into and out of uniforms off the clock are entitled to be reimbursed for their wages. Assistant managers who don’t really manage, but put in overtime hours performing the same duties as regular employees, are also eligible for overtime pay.
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, please fill in and submit our online Case Evaluation Form and one of our Lore Law Firm overtime attorneys will review the specifics of your case with you to see if you might have a valid case against your employer.