California Overtime Law: What Employees Need to Know

Many Californians are unaware that they are entitled to overtime pay, falling for the long-held myth that all people who are paid a salary are not entitled to overtime pay like hourly workers.

Salaried employees are entitled to overtime pay in California unless they meet the requirements for an exemption, meaning that the California overtime law does not apply to a particular classification of employees.

The most common exemption categories include executive, administrative, professional, and computer professional. If you don’t meet all of the requirements for at least one of these exemptions then you are entitled to overtime pay in California. Other specialty exemptions exist for people who work in non-traditional jobs, such as sheepherders, irrigators, and carnival workers.

To qualify for the executive exemption under the California overtime law, the employee must be a “bona-fide executive” earning a minimum salary of $640 per week. The “executive” must also direct the work of at least two subordinates, have the ability to hire and fire (directly or indirectly), be the manager of a particular department, exercise independent business judgment, and spend more than 50 percent of the time doing the aforementioned duties.

Administrative employees meet the exemption requirements for overtime in California if they work on the administrative side and also exercise business discretion over matters of substantial importance.

The professional exemption has a narrower definition. To meet the legal threshold of a professional who is exempt from overtime in California, the employee must be licensed by the State of California in an area such as law, medicine, engineering, accounting, and others, and be working in that field or hold a graduate degree (masters or above) and perform work that requires the degree to be used in an “intellectual and varied” way.

A professional exemption exists for employees working in artistic fields, such as actors, screenwriters, and artists, but not for technical writers, cartoonists or industrial artists. Discretion and independent judgment must be exercised to be exempted, in addition to a basic minimum salary.

Computer programmers fall under the California overtime law umbrella and are entitled to overtime pay in California unless they spend more than 50 percent of their time analyzing and designing software. IT employees who spend more than 50 percent of their time writing code are likely to be entitled to overtime pay with the exception of those who meet the threshold for very strict requirements.

In addition to overtime pay in California, employers are required to provide meal breaks, rest breaks, as well as pay a minimum wage of $9 an hour.

Join a Free Unpaid Overtime, Wage & Hour Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you were forced to work off the clock or without overtime pay in California within the past 2 to 3 years, you have rights – and you don’t have to take on the company alone.