Your Rights To Wages And Overtime Pay by:Mark Dacanay
With more companies wanting to get their money's worth when it comes to paying employees
, sometimes it results to a violation of the employee's rights. Unpaid overtime, wage and hour claims are filed because the employer forgets or willfully neglects what is due to their employees.
With regard to wages and hours claims, the minimum wage in the state of California is $8 per hour.
Federal and State laws sometimes sets different minimum wage for employees. In case of difference, the employers must provide the wage that is more beneficial to the employee.
In California, since the state's minimum wage is higher than that of the federal law, employers must follow the $8 per hour minimum wage.
All "non-exempt" workers are those that are aged above 18 years old or a minor employee no longer required to attend school and is authorized to engage in work which is 40 hours of work every week or 8 hours per day.
Any work outside the 40 hours is considered overtime and should be paid unless the worker is exempt from the overtime law.
Although the California State Law discusses this with more details, here are some of the general categories where a person may be exempt from overtime.
Executive - When an employee has supervisory duties and has the power to hire or fire employees. This also includes employees who manages the enterprise, supervises at least 2 subordinates and exercises business judgment.
Administrative - An employee that performs office or non-manual work that is related to the business operations of the employer.
Professional - A licensed or certified employee that practices either of the following: law, optometry, medicine, dentistry, education and other certified profession.
Employee in the Software field - An employee engaged in the software field who is paid in an hourly rate but meets the following criteria:
o Engaged in work that is intellectual and requires discretion
o Engaged in application of system analysis techniques and in the design, development and documentation, creation, testing and modification.
o Highly skilled in the theoretical and practical applications of specialized computer systems
o Hourly rate that is not less than $41.
Outside Sales Person - An employee that regularly works outside the office.
Employer's relative - An employee that is related to the employer like a spouse, child or parent.
The usual causes of overtime, wage and hour claims are these following violations:
Misclassification of employees as exempt.
Companies' not providing meal breaks during the first 5 hours of work.
Companies' not providing short breaks for every 4 hours of work.
Companies' not providing a 2nd meal break for 10 or more hour long shifts.
Per-Project employees not getting minimum wage.
If your employer is not meeting the required wages or overtime pays for extra hours after the 40 per week then you can file a wage claim with the Division Labor Standards Enforcement, or you can file overtime, wage and hours claim against your employers.
Consult a good employment lawyer to help you take action and recover your lost wages.
About the author
To pursue overtime, wage and hours claims, get help from our skilled employment attorneys. Visit our website at
http://www.employmentattorneyservices.com/ and call us toll free for immediate legal assistance.
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