The Fair Labor Standards Act and the California Labor Code both protects the rights of employees to receive payment for any work done beyond the required 40 hours for any given workweek.
These overtime laws serve many functions both humanitarian and economical, such as:
• It prevents employers from abusing employees by requiring them to work long hours for minimal pay.
• It creates more jobs as employers cannot compensate for lack of manpower by forcing employees to work longer hours without pay.
In the state of California, all workers who are at least 18 years old or a minor who is not required by law to attend school and is not prohibiting from being employed, should not be working more than eight hours in any workday or more than 40 hours in any workweek.
Work beyond those could only be permissible if the employee is paid for overtime at not less than:
• One and a half times the employee’s regular rate for all hours worked beyond hours that include 12 hours in any workday and the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day.
• Double the employee’s regular rate for all hours beyond 12 hours in any workday and for all hours beyond the eight of the seventh consecutive day in a workweek.
However, there are “exempt” employees to whom overtime laws may not apply. Here are some of the exempt employees from overtime:
Executive
A person who works in an executive capacity refers to:
• Employees whose duties involve management of the enterprise.
• Employees who is involved in directing the work of two or more workers.
• Employees who has the power to hire and/or fire other employees.
• An executive employee receives a monthly salary that is equivalent to at least two times the state minimum wage.
Administrative
A person who works in an administrative capacity refers to:
• Employees who perform office or non-manual work that is related to the management policies or the business operations of the company or its customers.
• Employees who are involved in the administration of a school system, an educational institution or of a department where work is directly related to academic instruction or training.
• An administrative employee receives a monthly salary that is equivalent to at least twice the minimum wage.
Creative Professional
A person who works as a creative professional refers to employees whose primary duty involves invention, imagination or talent in a field of creative or artistic ventures.
What to do in case of unpaid overtime wages?
If an employer refuses to pay overtime wages, the employee can take the following actions:
• The employee can file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (the Labor Commissioner’s Office).
• The employee may file a lawsuit against the employer to recover lost overtime wages.
To know which course of action is best, the employee should consult with an overtime wage attorney for legal advice.
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