How are employers getting away with not paying overtime? Wage and hour laws must be followed by store managers and employers to avoid incurring wage and hour violations, unpaid overtime pay issues, and other employment law issues filed by employees against their bosses. Employers cannot avoid paying hourly or salaried workers, or misclassifying employees as an independent contractor to save on payroll costs or other company money.

What Counts As Overtime In California?

California law requires that an employer pays overtime, whether authorized or not, at the rate of one and a half times an employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked, exceeding eight hours, up to, and including, twelve hours in any workday. This also counts for the first eight hours of work on the seventh consecutive day of work in a single workweek.

An employee is to be paid double their regular rate of pay for all hours worked that exceed twelve hours in a single workday. They must be paid for all hours worked that exceed eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of work in a single workweek.

Overtime Compensation for Hourly Paid Employees

In California, overtime pay is necessary when employees work more than eight hours in any work day. In such a case, an employer must pay employees overtime pay at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay. In addition, if employees work over 40 hours in any work week, they are again entitled to overtime pay at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay. If employees work seven days in a row, the first 8 hours of their 7th day, entitles them to overtime overtime pay.

According to the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees are also entitled to overtime pay at 2 times their regular rate of pay if they work more than 12 hours in any work day. Federal law mandates that an employer must overtime wages if their employee worked overtime hours, even if the overtime they worked was not authorized by their employer.

Some employers have strict overtime pay policies that require all overtime to be pre-authorized before it’s worked. However, under California federal and state laws, all overtime work must be compensated at the applicable overtime pay rates, even if the overtime work was unauthorized and/or in violation of company policy.

Overtime Compensation for Salaried Employees

There is a misconception that if someone is a salaried employee that is classified as exempt, they are automatically not eligible for overtime wages. Just because an employer classifies professional employees as exempt or gives them a managerial job title doesn’t necessarily mean employees are not eligible for overtime wages. Sometimes employers misclassify employees as exempt in order to deny them the overtime wages and not pay employees as much. This could also be called, wage theft.

Under California wage and hour law, if employees are not spending more than 50% of their time, on average, completing exempt job duties (which are duties that require them to exercise independent discretion and judgement), then they may have been misclassified and could be entitled to overtime unpaid wages for all the unpaid overtime they worked.

If an employees’ duties and responsibilities mostly include following company policies, practices, and procedures without independent discretion and judgment, then under the law, those duties are not considered managerial or exempt.

The burden falls to the employer to prove that their worker was properly classified as an exempt employee and that there was a sufficient legal basis to deny them overtime wages for all the overtime hours they worked.

For example, if a California worker is spending more than 50% of their work day, on average, performing the same duties as an hourly paid employee, then that California worker may have been misclassified as an exempt employee. As such, they could be entitled to unpaid wages.

Unpaid Overtime Laws In California

California unpaid overtime wages include situations when an employer tries to commit wage theft, or otherwise avoid granting paid overtime by “fixing” the number of hours an employee worked. This could happen to an exempt employees and nonexempt employees, and may involved an employer not properly calculating other employees’ hours, or intentionally not paying them hours worked. This is violates wage and hour law and an employee can file an unpaid overtime claim if they find out it happened to them. The best course of action is to contact an unpaid overtime lawyer who can fight for unpaid wages on behalf of the employee.

An unpaid overtime lawyer can also help other employees on wage and hour lawsuits where the employee was denied meal breaks. The unpaid overtime lawyer team at Lawyers for Justice, PC can help victims of any type of unpaid wages or unpaid overtime claims. The Los Angeles unpaid overtime attorneys will fight to collect unpaid wages and recover compensation for employees who were mistreated at work.

How Do Companies Get Away With Not Paying Overtime?

There are several possibilities: some employers may misclassify employees as exempt from overtime when they are, in fact, non-exempt, or as independent contractors; employers may pressure employees to work “off-the-clock,” meaning they perform work-related tasks before or after their official work hours without receiving overtime pay; employers may not accurately record or track hours worked, making it difficult for employees to claim overtime pay; employers might use intimidation tactics or threaten retaliation against employees who raise concerns about overtime pay.

Can I Sue My Employer For Unpaid Overtime – FAQ

Is it against law to not pay overtime? Not paying overtime is illegal in California. If an employee believes they should have been paid overtime and were not, they may be able to file unpaid overtime claims. An unpaid overtime lawyer can help confirm if their client has a valid unpaid overtime claim and advise them what to do next.

is unpaid overtime legal? The federal overtime provisions are contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act and outline that all those who work overtime should receive overtime pay.

how to prove unpaid overtime? Proving unpaid overtime lawsuits can be tricky, but not impossible. If an employer failed to pay an employee fairly, the employee should collect any documents to prove their potential unpaid overtime lawsuit, including paystubs, time sheets, calendars, or notes about work hours.

can i sue my employer for unpaid overtime? If an employer does not pay employees, they can face wage and hour disputes and/or unpaid overtime claims because they are breaking federal employment laws. An employee can contact an overtime law attorney and file a wage claim for the money they are owed.

how to report unpaid overtime? It is always wise for an employer who wasn’t properly paid to possibly report the issue to the employer directly and HR so there are multiple records of the complaint. Then, if the issue isn’t resolved, an employee should contact an overtime lawyer.

what damages can I recover from unpaid overtime? When working with an unpaid wages lawyer on a wage claim for underpaid overtime, employees can recover the money they should have received for their hours worked, in addition to possible interest on their unpaid wages, attorneys fees (in some cases), and perhaps even court costs, depending on the case.

what is unpaid overtime? If an employee was denied overtime pay for the appropriate hours they worked, they have experienced unpaid overtime and can contact a wage and hour lawyer.

Contact Lawyers for Justice, PC Today for a Free Consultation

If you feel you haven’t been paid to work overtime hours, contact Lawyers for Justice, PC, and we’ll determine if your employer violated any federal or state laws. To get started, call (818) 647-9323 and receive a free consultation, today!