The purpose of California labor law is to protect employees from being taken advantage of by their employer and to ensure a common standard of living and or working. The United States and California have both come a long way since the Industrial Age when children worked alongside their parents 7 days a week, and often 12 to 14 hours per day without breaks. Today California labor law is designed to regulate everything from wrongful termination of employment to wage and hour compliance, with the latter being commonly referred to as California overtime law.
Some of the most common misconceptions regarding California overtime law revolve around how overtime is actually calculated. Often workers are under the impression that any hours over 40 in a week are considered overtime. While this is correct, it is not the entire truth either. California overtime law mandates that for every hour worked over 8 hours in a day and 40 hours in a week, the worker is to be paid one and a half times their regular rate of pay. Time and again, employers will try to avoid paying overtime completely by attempting to place the employees on salary, otherwise known as “exempt from overtime.” Fortunately for California employees, California labor law is quite specific when authorizing what jobs can be considered salaried, or “exempt from overtime pay.” The most important thing to remember is that exemption status is determined by the actual work or duties performed by the employee and not by the job title given to them by their employer. The best way to be certain you have not been misclassified as salaried exempt, is to contact a California labor law attorney to discuss your job duties.
An experienced California labor law attorney is also able to help determine if you have a legitimate claim involving improper meal and break periods. Most California workers are aware that California labor law requires a half hour lunch break. However, California labor law does require that this break be uninterrupted and be taken within the first 5 hours of a shift lasting at least 6 hours. Additionally, if the employee works a “10 hour day” then he/she is entitled to a second half hour, uninterrupted break. The law also states that for every 4 hours an employee works he or she is required to be provided a “10 minute uninterrupted break.”
Contacting a California labor law attorney can also be instrumental in proving a wrongful termination of employment claim. There are a number of factors that may constitute a potential claim for wrongful termination of employment. For example, if an employee feels they were terminated because he/she reported an employer’s safety violation, a potential case may exist for wrongful termination of employment based on retaliation. To cite another example, an African-American employee is told that he is being let go because of downsizing, only to discover later that the employer has immediately hired a Caucasian replacement for his exact position. This may very well constitute a wrongful termination of employment based on race.
The bottom line is that California labor law was designed to protect the California worker. If you suspect that your rights under California overtime law have been violated, or you believe you may have a claim for wrongful termination of employment, it may be wise to retain a skilled California labor law attorney to discuss your legal options. Remember that “knowing your rights” is just the start to insuring that the California labor laws designed to protect you are effective. You may be entitled to recover your wages, or your job, or both!
By: Mansi Gupta
Posts Tagged ‘Wage And Hour’
Common California Labor Law Violations – Know Your Rights!
December 9th, 2009Wage and Hour Law Quick Tip: Pay Now or Pay a Lot More, Later
November 19th, 2009More cases are being litigated over employers deducting unlawfully pay from an exempt employee. Unlawfully deducting pay from employees classified as “exempt” could mean losing the “exempt” status and a finding that the employee is entitled to payment of overtime wages for all hours worked over 40 per week.
Employers must heed all wage and hour laws, lest they find themselves in expensive and time-consuming litigation. In one recent case, the Court concluded that the employer failed to pay the employees on a “salary basis,” which the law defines as payment, “on a weekly, or less frequent basis, a predetermined amount constituting all or part of his compensation, which amount is not subject to reduction because of variations in the quality or quantity of the work performed.”
The Court found that the employer violated the “no-docking” rule by having a written policy stating that all employees could be suspended without pay under at least three circumstances, none of which were exceptions to the “no-docking” rule and numerous “exempt” employees had their pay docked for unlawful reasons, such as partial-day absences
Quick Tip: Pay Now or Pay a Lot More, Later. Deductions of exempt employees’ pay are permitted only for whole-day absences for personal reasons, absences due to sickness and disability if made in accordance with a “bona fide plan, policy or practice” that provides such benefits, and for suspensions due to violations of major safety rules, as long as there is a published policy. Partial-day deductions are permitted when leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act is taken.
Violations of wage and hour requirements under the FLSA and Hawai`i state law can result in awards of back pay, interest, liquidated damages, civil penalties, and for flagrant offenders, even criminal prosecution. Employers are wise to review their pay/disciplinary policies for compliance.
Roman Amaguin, Esq.; romanamaguin@yahoo.com; www.amaguinlaw.com
By: ramaguin
Amendments To The Ohio Employment Law – Filling The Gaps
September 6th, 2009The Ohio Employment Law does not appear have definitive parameters. The voters approved an increase in the minimum wage rate to $6.85 per hour by amending the constitution. Under this law, all employers have to maintain and set up payroll records for every employee. This rule did not go down very well with the business community. They felt that the law was highly inconvenient and rigid. The politicians tried to amend it, and in the bargain managed to make it even more vague than it was earlier. This will definitely prove to be a constitutional challenge.
A tricky area in the Ohio Employment Law is the definition of the term ‘employee’ and who is deemed to be an employee under Ohio Wage and Hour Law. This is a relevant point because there are workers under the age of 16 in Ohio. As per the Law, all the employees must be paid the minimum wage of $6.85 per hour. There are exemptions for this rule and the minimum wage rate need not be paid to workers under the age of 16, workers that are earning tips and family members working for the family business.
The bill amended by the politicians added to the confusion more than ever before; the amendment narrowed down the definition of employee even further, to exclude some more types of employees from the purview of the minimum wage. These were outdoor sales personnel, live in companions, camp counselors and newspaper delivery persons. This further messed up things for Ohio Employment Law.
Few other changes were made to the law. It was mandatory for the employers to give details like name, address, telephone number, email, website address and fax number to the employees. This information had to be given to the employee on his first day at work. If the company decides to shift operations, all employees have to be informed within 60 days of making the change. This could be done by pasting a notice on the bulletin board or giving individual notes to employees. Complete payroll records must be maintained in a prominent place and all workers should have free access to it. The Ohio Employment Law does not put limitations on the request for records; theoretically, any worker can see the records of other employees, including that of the boss.
A small concession that the amendments introduced by the politicians managed to make was that, they limited the amount of information that could be requested and who could request for it.
By: Abhishek Agarwal
