Under California overtime law, workers are entitled to earn 1.5 times their regular wage when they work more than 8 hours a day, unless they autumn into one of the California overtime exemptions. One time they hit 12 hours a day, workers are entitled to earn double time, which is 2 times their regular rate of pay. A good employment lawyer will tell you it doesn't matter whether you're paid past the hour or slice-rate (per job), the California labor lawmaking requires employers to pay overtime to all not-exempt employees.

Beneath we discuss 7 common overtime issues and 4 common myths about overtime under California police.

Employer violating California overtime law?

Contact united states of america for a free case evaluation. No obligation.

1-800-254-9493

Definition of Overtime Pay: California

California protects employees from having to work too many hours in a day, or too many days in a calendar week, without fair compensation. For this reason, California defines overtime based not only on hours worked per 24-hour interval, but likewise per week. The overtime period in California begins when an employee works 8 hours per 24-hour interval or 40 hours per week. Employees who have to work 7 days per week are also entitled to overtime on Sundays.

Once the overtime period begins, employers have to pay their workers i and a half times their normal rate.

The fashion California defines information technology, the overtime period ramps upwards at sure points, requiring an fifty-fifty higher level of compensation. Once an employee works past 12 hours in a day, the rate of overtime pay enters double fourth dimension, where employees earn twice their normal rates. Employees are also entitled to double time in California if they work more than 8 hours on a Sunday, after a 7-twenty-four hours work calendar week.

Summary of California Rules for Overtime (2022)

How much did you piece of work? How much are you owed in California?
More than than 8 hours in a 24-hour interval Time-and-a-half (i.5x normal rate of pay)
More than 12 hours in a day Double fourth dimension (2x normal rate of pay)
More than xl hours in a week Time-and-a-half (ane.5x normal rate of pay)
7 days in a week -Fourth dimension-and-a-half (on Sunday)
-Double time (over eight hours on Sunday)

California Overtime Calculator (2022)

Effigy Out How Much You're Owed

By inbound your weekly hours and regular rate of pay into our California Overtime Calculator, yous tin meet how much overtime you lot're owed under the California labor code.

Download Calculator

The Best Lawyer to Help You Recover Overtime Pay

When figuring out the best lawyer to correspond you on your California overtime claims, consider whether the attorney specializes in California or federal labor police. Generally, California overtime police force is more favorable to employees than federal overtime law. A good California employment lawyer will sympathise the intricacies and relative advantages of pursuing a claim nether California law vs. federal.

Common Overtime Law Issues in California

Mandatory Overtime: Employers sometimes strength employees to work past eight hours a day or more than xl a week, but don't pay overtime rates. Depending on circumstances, information technology may exist illegal for an employer to crave an employee to work mandatory overtime.

Overtime Pay Waivers: An employee'southward correct to collect overtime pay cannot exist waived. An overtime pay waiver in an employment contract is invalid under California law. An employment contract likewise cannot waive the CA overtime rates (time-and-a-half and double fourth dimension), even if the employment agreement specifies that overtime will be at a detail (lower) rate.

Commute Time: Employers are generally non required to pay for fourth dimension employees spend as office of an ordinary commute. For workers without a fixed job site, such as merchandisers who travel store-to-store, California constabulary generally treats the commencement and final drive of the mean solar day as commute time. But drives in between chore sites generally count as paid time.

Travel Time: Unlike commute time, time spent traveling for work must be compensated in California. Whether it'due south air travel to see a client, taking public send to go pull public records, or drive fourth dimension betwixt job sites, employers must treat those hours as paid time. As a result, travel time counts towards calculating overtime hours and guaranteed hourly minimum wage.

business travelers entitled to double time under california overtime law

California employees are generally entitled to overtime pay for business travel

Salaried Employees Exempt from Overtime: Sure categories of salaried employees are exempt from the protections of California's overtime law. White collar workers who are employed in an authoritative, executive, reckoner professional, or other professional chapters may be considered exempt employees under California law.

Unionized Workers: Employees that are unionized are an exception to the full general rule in California that workers get time-and-a-one-half and double pay. California allows unionized workers to agree to a different overtime rate in a collective bargaining agreement, as long as the worker earns a wage premium for overtime hours that is at least thirty% of California minimum wage. Based on California's 2022 minimum wage, union workers must earn a premium wage of at least $iii.90 an hour for overtime work.

Regular Rate of Pay: Some employees don't have a unmarried specified hourly rate, so they question what base rate to use when calculating overtime. For instance, some employees receive a different wage rate based on the type of work (such as minimum wage for travel time and a higher wage rate for regular work hours), and some employees are paid piece-rate, meaning they receive a specified amount per job completed. California requires employers to calculate overtime pay based on the employee'southward regular rate of pay. Generally, the regular rate of pay can be calculated past dividing the full corporeality of coin the employee earns per calendar week by the total hours the employee works in a regular week.

Common Overtime Myths Among California Employees

Myth #ane: Unauthorized Overtime Is Not Compensable. Sometimes, an employee feels like they must piece of work extra hours to finish all the work that their employer has assigned. They think: there'south only not enough hours in a day! Ofttimes, they don't fifty-fifty study the hours on their fourth dimension sheet. Only when the employee quits or is fired, they desire to know whether they tin sue to recover overtime pay, even though the employer did not specifically authorize those hours. The full general dominion in California is that employers must pay for unauthorized overtime hours if the employer knew that the employee was working overtime, or if the employer should have known the employee would need to piece of work overtime to finish the chore.

Myth #two: Residual Breaks Are Not Included When Calculating Overtime. Employees in California are entitled to paid rest breaks every iv hours. When computing overtime hours, California employers are required to include rest breaks towards the total hours worked.

Myth #3: Piece-Rate Workers Not Entitled to Overtime Pay. Some piece-rate workers think they are non entitled to overtime because they are paid on a per-task footing. Service technicians and structure workers are often paid piece-rate. But piece-rate workers in California are entitled to earn a guaranteed minimum wage and overtime rates when computing the total paid per task by the total hours worked on a particular job.

Myth #4: Compensation Is Never Required for On-Telephone call Fourth dimension. Generally, on-call pay is a requirement in California if the employee faces significant restraints on what they tin exercise with their personal time while on-call. For example, if the employee must stay at their identify of employment while on-call, California typically requires this be paid fourth dimension, including counting information technology towards overtime hours.

Recover Overtime Pay You're Owed

Speak to an employment chaser before it'south as well late to bring your claim. Free, confidential consultation.

  • 1-800-254-9493
  • Message Us

Common Ways that Employers Deny Overtime Pay in California

Required Clocking Out: Employers volition sometimes instruct their employees to clock out for mandatory rest breaks, or to clock out at the end of the day but go on working (such equally cleaning up). In California, information technology is illegal to require non-exempt employees to perform off-the-clock work without pay.

Requiring Employees Come In Early: Employers will often instruct their employees to come up in 15 minutes early on, before their shift starts. This time must be compensated for non-exempt employees. Official work start time nether California law is whenever the employee becomes subject to the employer's control. Waiting time, where employees are required to be there just aren't working, is generally considered paid fourth dimension in California.

Substantial Prep Fourth dimension: If the task requires the employee to perform a substantial amount of preparatory work, such dressing in specialized gear as or getting their workstation ready, California employers must more often than not compensate this time, including counting it towards overtime hours.

Training Time: If attendance at training sessions is mandatory, employers are required to pay employees for these hours, including adding them to adding of overtime hours. Some employers try to pretend that certain training sessions are voluntary, just California law treats preparation as mandatory if employees are led to believe that non-attendance will negatively bear on their job.

Mandatory Meetings: If attendance at a meeting is mandatory, employers in California are required to count these meetings every bit paid fourth dimension, including towards overtime hours, even if the meeting occurs outside of normal work hours.

Recent California Overtime Lawsuits

Revel Systems: Revel Systems, a technology company employer, was accused of shorting its workers anywhere from $250 to over $53,000 each in overtime compensation. The filing cited alleged violations of the Off-white Labor Standards Human action (FLSA), as nearly 150 of Revel's internal sales representatives claimed that they regularly worked overtime but did not receive proper compensation. The grade action lawsuit reached a preliminary settlement of $2.75 million in 2019.

McDonald'due south: In 2019, McDonald's agreed to pay $26 million to settle a six-twelvemonth sometime lawsuit alleging that the company structured shifts in a way which denied employees proper overtime pay. As function of the settlement, McDonald'due south added that it will continue to "roll out additional trainings and resources across corporate-endemic restaurants to promote continued compliance with all wage and 60 minutes laws."

Comcast: four,500 technicians and workers lodged a complaint against Comcast Corp. and O.C. Communications Inc. (OCC) in 2017, alleging that the companies denied workers meal breaks, and failed to pay them for overtime work. The lawsuit reached a $vii.5 million settlement in 2019.

Featured Members of Our Employment Law Do

Steven Tindall

An employment-law litigator with over xx years' experience, Steven Tindall is well-acquainted with navigating the ins-and-outs of California overtime police force. His largest recovery in a unmarried employment case is $29 million.

Linda Lam

Prior to joining u.s. at Gibbs Police force Group LLP, Linda Lam worked at a national employment law business firm, where she represented workers in lawsuits to recover unpaid wages and benefits.

Steve Lopez

Steve has prosecuted a variety of complex employment cases involving misclassification of independent contractors. He is fluent in English and Castilian.

About United states

Gibbs Constabulary Group is a California-based law firm committed to protecting the rights of clients nationwide who have been harmed by corporate misconduct. We represent individuals, whistleblowers, employees, and small businesses across the U.S. against the world's largest corporations. Our honor-winning lawyers accept achieved landmark recoveries and over a billion dollars for our clients in high-stakes class action and individual cases involving consumer protection, information breach, digital privacy, and federal and California employment lawsuits. Our attorneys have received numerous honors for their work, including "Top Plaintiff Lawyers in California," "Top Class Activeness Attorneys Under twoscore," "Consumer Protection MVP," "Best Lawyers in America," and "Elevation Cybersecurity/ Privacy Attorneys Under twoscore."

Notice out what overtime y'all're owed nether California law

If yous're owed overtime pay, our lawyers tin can help you recover it. Nosotros give free consultations. Anything you tell us will be kept confidential.

1-800-254-9493