The Top 10 Employer Mistakes with California Wage & Hour Laws

California Wage & Hour Rules

California labor law protects the rights of California employees to receive overtime pay for those who work more than 8 hours a day and for those who work more than 40 hours in a week.  In California, you can still be entitled to overtime even if you are paid on a salary basis, even if your salary is $100,000.00 a year.

You can also be eligible for overtime even if your company labels you a “part time” employee or you supervise other people.  Even exceeding the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act guidelines, California labor law has many narrowly defined exemptions and can be very tricky.

Top Ten Employer Mistakes Regarding California Wage and Hour Law

Without adequate knowledge or legal counsel, the deck can be stacked against employers’ compliance with California labor law, and as a result, employers are making mistakes in determining whether or not workers are entitled to overtime pay, as well as other mistakes regarding wages legally owed to employees. The top ten mistakes made are:
Misclassifying Employees as “Independent Contractors”

• Maintaining an Unlawful Vacation Policy
• Failing to Appropriately Pay Final Wages
• Failing to Properly Handle Employee Expense Reimbursements, Uniforms, and Tools and Losses
• Not Posting Required Notices Mandated by both State and Federal Law
• Miscalculating Regular Rate of Pay
• Not Properly Paying Employees for All Hours Worked
• Not Providing Employees with the Required Breaks and Meal Periods
• Employees Misclassified as Exempt from Overtime Pay
• Not Understanding which Wage Order Applies (California has 17 Separate Wage Orders)

Contact an Overtime Attorney

To get a complete explanation for the above list, contact our law office, as California has complicated definitions of what is legal and what is not.

California labor law is complex, especially in Information Technology and the high tech industry, and the Labor Commission does not always have the time to assist in understanding these issues.  Therefore, it is suggested that if you have a complaint against your employer regarding overtime or any other wage and hour dispute that you do not only take it to the Labor Commission.

Contact an overtime attorney that specializes in California labor law, as they understand all of California’s quirks regarding this matter.