Wage & Overtime Disputes
In California, an employee must be paid one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for each hour worked over 8 per day or over 40 per week. Employees in California can recover overtime wages earned as far back as four years ago.
Employers often find creative ways to avoid paying overtime wages. Some common tricks include adding hours to future pay checks as regular work hours, having you work off the clock, or even misclassifying your job as exempt from overtime laws.
Even salaried workers may be entitled to overtime pay by showing that they have been misclassified as exempt from overtime laws or by showing that they worked off-the-clock hours to meet their employers’ demands.
To determine the overtime rate of pay in the cases of salaried employees, CA provides that a salary compensates for only 40 hours of work per week. For instance, if an employee is paid a salary of $800 per week, the employee’s overtime rate of pay is computed by dividing $800 by 40 hours. In this scenario, $20 per hour is the employee’s regular rate of pay. Thus, for every hour worked over 40 hours per week, the employee in this example would be entitled to be paid $30.00 per hour.
Many employees try to evade their overtime pay obligations by paying a lump sum amount for overtime wages no matter how many overtime hours are worked, or by paying overtime pay as a bonus. These are all prohibited methods.
Other Pay Violations
California employers often commit other violations of the California Labor Code such as:
- Failing to provide employees timely and uninterrupted meal and rest breaks.
- Failing to reimburse employees for business expenses, including mileage and other travel expenses.
- Failing to pay all earned wages immediately at the end of employment.
- Failing to pay for all accrued but unused vacation wages immediately at the end of employment.
- Failing to provide employees with free uniforms.
- Failing to provide accurate itemized wage statements.
Free Initial Consultation and Case Evaluation
Chami Law represents both individuals and groups of employees in wage and overtime disputes with their employers. If you believe that you have been denied your earned wages, including overtime wages, or have suffered another wrongful practice in the workplace, contact the offices of Chami Law for a free consultation toll free at 888-384-7225 or by email at info@chamilaw.com.