California Unpaid Overtime Lawyers

Both state and federal laws agree that unpaid overtime should be illegal. In fact, employers are mandated by law to pay overtime in most instances. When federal, state and local laws differ, your employer must abide by the most stringent standards, usually local ordinances or state laws.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) applies to nearly all employers and requires them to pay workers one and a half times their normal rate for any time worked in excess of 40 hours per week. There are very few exemptions to this law.

California labor law is more generous to employees. Under California’s laws, employers are required to pay one and a half times the normal rate of pay to employees who work more than eight hours in a day or over 40 hours in a week. Further, if employees work more than 12 hours in a day or eight hours per day for seven or more consecutive days, then they are eligible for double pay. An employee must be classified as non-exempt in order to be protected by this law in California. Any employee paid hourly, as opposed to earning a salary, is considered non-exempt.

It should be noted that overtime pay is not required for work on the weekends, holidays or other “days of rest” unless the time worked exceeds the hours stated in the laws.