Dental Lab Holdings Allegedly Denies California Overtime Pay to Former Employee

Dental Lab Holdings (DLH) LLC is facing a lawsuit alleging the company withheld overtime pay from a woman who regularly worked over 50 hours a week.

California overtime pay is one of the highest in the country and is vital for minimum wage workers trying to make a decent living.

Plaintiff Megan B. alleges that she had regularly worked over 40 hours a week, but was still denied California overtime pay. According to the California wage and hour lawsuit, Megan had previously worked for Dental Lab Holdings ten years before filing this claim and had recently started working for the company again in September 2015.

Megan had reportedly worked as a “senior doctor services adviser” for about a week and then as “technical support manager” between Sept. 10, 2015 to July 31, 2018.

During this time, Megan says she had been fully employed and worked approximately 50 hours a week and then 11 hours for the last week of each month. In addition, Megan attended a trade show in April 2018 when she says she worked from 7 a.m. until midnight.

Even though Megan had been fully employed and regularly worked over 40 hours a week, she alleges she was still classified as an exempt employee and the company withheld her California overtime pay. Instead, Megan says she had been paid a salary twice a month from 2015 until 2016, and then every other week thereafter.

According to the California wage and hour lawsuit, Megan’s last day of work was on July 31, 2018. She is seeking compensation for all the wrongfully withheld California overtime pay.

Overview of California Overtime Pay Policies

California is one of the most progressive states when it comes to employment protection laws, including a minimum wage rate of $11 per hour and requiring employers to provide regular breaks.

Non exempt employees become eligible for California overtime pay when they work over 40 hours a week or eight hours in a single work week, with employers required to pay their workers 1.5 times their regular rate.

An employee can be considered exempt from California overtime pay is if the employee makes over a certain salary level and if they had some form of administrative role. In addition, employees could also be considered exempt if they have some kind of authority over other workers like hiring, firing, promoting, and setting the shift schedules.

Employers that declare their employees exempt can confirm that they qualify for this status by going through a checklist provided by the Department of Labor.

In addition to strict rules regarding California overtime pay, the state requires employers to give their workers 30 minute meal breaks every five hours and 10 minute rest breaks every four hours. During this half hour meal break, the employee must not perform any work and must be allowed to leave the premises.

If an employee is forced to work through their meal break or rest period, they need to be compensated for that time. Megan alleges she was not compensated for any of her missing California overtime pay or other financial damages and, as a result, she has been forced to resort to legal action.

This California Wage and Hour Lawsuit is Case No. BC-723812, in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles

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