Is It Legal for My Employer Not to Pay Me Overtime?

Employees are often asked to give 150 percent effort into their work and do more than expected. However, that often requires employees to work longer hours. If you’ve had to stay at work longer than your expected hours, you might be wondering if you should be compensated for working overtime. Read more to find out.

When Employees Should Receive Overtime Pay

If an employer is covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), they must pay overtime to all eligible employees unless they fit into an exception of the law. Generally, employees over the age of 18, or over the age of 16 who are legally allowed to leave school to work, must be paid overtime. An employee must also be a non-executive, non-administrative professional. Essentially, all non-exempt workers (even those with salary pay) should be paid overtime.

The FLSA typically does not apply to employees of private California employers. Instead, California employees are typically covered by California’s labor laws, which are generally more protective of workers. Under California law, all employees are presumed to be non-exempt and should be paid overtime unless they fall into one of California’s exemptions from California’s overtime laws.

Under California law, employees may be exempt if they perform certain types of work. The main exemptions are:

• Executive
• Administrative
• Professional
• Outside Salespeople

This list is not comprehensive, and there are certain other fields in which California employees may be properly classified as exempt from California’s overtime laws. Determining whether a particular employee is exempt depends on a number of factors. If you believe you may be misclassified, you may contact our experienced employment attorneys for a consultation.

Non-exempt workers still take direction from supervisors and do not have administrative or executive positions.

California Overtime Pay Laws

There are various situations in which employees are required to get overtime pay, such as:

• In California, eligible employees must receive overtime if they work more than eight hours in a day or 40 hours in a week.
• If an employee works more than 12 hours a day, they must receive double-time pay.
• If an employee works on a seventh day, that employee is entitled to time and a half for the first eight hours of work and double time for any additional hours.

What Should I Do If I Should Be Getting Paid Overtime but I’m Not?

If your employer has not paid you for working overtime, you can file a wage claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (the Labor Commissioner’s Office), or you can file a lawsuit in court against your employer to recover your lost wages. Since unpaid wages claims are complex, you need an experienced attorney on your side to help you.

Contact our Los Angeles employment law attorneys today at (213) 310-8301 to schedule a case review!