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California Overtime Rules
California overtime laws protect hourly California workers from abuses by employers with a variety of rules and regulations. Outlined below are important California overtime regulations. Also included are two exceptions to California overtime pay rules. If you feel you may have an overtime claim or other labor law violation, a California labor law attorney will provide a free case review.
California Minimum Wage: The current California minimum wage for 2012 is $8.00 per hour. This minimum wage rate remains the same as the 2011 California minimum wage. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. California employers must comply with the higher state of California minimum wage rate when compensating non exempt employees.
California Time and a Half: California employees are protected by some of the most vigorous overtime pay laws. One of the major distinctions between California overtime pay and federal overtime pay is that California employers are required to not only pay “one and a half times the hourly wage” when an employee works in excess of 40 hours in a week, but also must pay this same “time and a half” hourly rate when an employee works in excess of 8 hours in a day.
California Double Time: California overtime law requires that employers pay double the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 12 hours in any workday. This is commonly referred to as “double time.”
California Seventh Day Rule: California overtime laws also provide protections to employees working 7 consecutive days in a workweek. Workers must be paid overtime (time and a half) for the 7th workday and double time after 8 hours on that 7th workday. By way of example, if the workweek runs from Sunday through Saturday, the seventh workday in the workweek will be Saturday. However, the seventh day may or may not be the seventh consecutive day worked in an actual workweek, but is still required to be paid at either time and one half the hourly wage, or double time if greater than 8 hours worked.
Working Off The Clock: Simply put, being required to work “off the clock” is illegal under California labor laws. California employees who are working off the clock may be exposed to a variety of California labor law and overtime violations. For example, if an hourly worker is being compensated at the California minimum wage rate and is being required to work “off the clock” then this employee is in essence, not being compensated at the California minimum wage rate for all hours worked. By way of another example, if this same employee is working more than 40 hours in any workweek or more than 8 hours in a workday, but there is also time being “worked off the clock” then this employee is not being paid the overtime wages that are rightfully due to him/her.
On Call or Standby Pay: In California, an employer is required to pay wages for all time that an hourly employee is deemed to be under the control of the employer. This concept commonly includes the time that an employee incurs while on “standby” or “on call” status for the employer, regardless if that employee was actually called in to work or not. During that time, restrictions were placed on the employee such that the employee was unable to effectively engage in other personal or professional pursuits as he/she waited for potential calls to duty/work. California overtime rules require that this on call or stand by time be paid as wages to non-exempt employees.
Collective Bargaining Agreements: As mentioned above, there are exceptions to California overtime pay requirements. The first exception involves California employees working under a collective bargaining agreement that provides for some overtime pay, and specifies that the worker will receive at least 30% above the state of California minimum wage.
Alternative Workweek Schedule: The second exception to California overtime pay regulations is called the alternative workweek. California employers are permitted to implement an "alternative workweek schedule" if this schedule receives approval of two/thirds of their workforce. The California alternative workweek schedule allows employees to work four day shifts of up to 10 hours without receiving overtime, as long as total hours worked do not exceed 40 hours.
California overtime rules and regulations often appear straightforward on the surface, but many times are more complex than expected. If you feel your California employer may be in violation of California overtime pay requirements, or other California labor laws designed to protect California employees, we are ready to assist. Contact us today for a free claim evaluation.
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