Overtime

San Diego Unpaid Overtime Lawyer

One of the most litigated employment areas that we consistently handle involves unpaid overtime. The failure of an employer to properly pay overtime wages amounts to nothing short of wage theft. In many cases employers ask employees to clock out and “just finish” a couple of tasks. Or an employee is told by management that “we don’t have approval” to pay overtime, but they ask the employee to complete work anyway even though the employer has already worked a full forty-hour workweek.

Rist Law Offices handles unpaid overtime cases on an individual and class-wide basis throughout California. Our office has recovered millions of dollars in wage theft cases where employers attempted to skirt California Labor laws in order to save money at the expense of their workers.

California Overtime Law

California Labor Code § 510 requires a non-exempt employee to be paid overtime if they work more than eight (8) hours in one day or more than forty (40) hours in a single week. An employee also must be paid overtime if they work more than six (6) days in a single week.

Also, if an employee works more than twelve (12) hours in a single day or more than eight (8) hours on any seventh day of a workweek they must be compensated at twice their regular rate (sometimes known as double time).

There are several exceptions to the overtime laws including whether an employee is an exempt employee or work an alternative workweek schedule. Also, an independent contractor that has been correctly classified is not entitled to overtime pay.

How Do I Know if I’m an “Exempt Employee?”

In many cases, an employee has been designated as non-exempt and they know this already as a part of their pay structure or other hiring documents. In some cases, this becomes much less clear when an employer designates an employee as exempt and gives them a fancy job title.

In most unpaid overtime cases, a lawyer will look at three requirements in order to figure out of an employee is exempt under the California Labor Code:

• Minimum Salary – an employee has to be paid a salary that is at least twice the minimum wage for full time employment
• White Collar Duties – an employee’s duties must consist of administrative, executive or professional tasks
• Independent Discretion – the employee’s job duties require an employee to regularly use discretion and independent judgment in performing their job duties

What Damages Can I Recover if I’m Not Paid Overtime?

If a case is successful, an employee can recover the amount of wages that should have been paid as overtime, interest on that amount, and attorney’s fees and costs.

My Co-Workers Are Not Being Paid Overtime Either. How Can I Help?

When a company fails to pay overtime to numerous employees, a class action can possibly be utilized as a tool to force the company to pay all employees outstanding overtime. Utilizing a class representative, a case can go forward that holds the employer responsible and obtains a recovery for all employees. Our office can run through whether a class action could be filed during our free consultation.

Get Help From a San Diego Unpaid Overtime Lawyer

Failing to pay overtime amounts to theft of wages from an employee, and we are here to help. Our office has recovered millions of dollars from companies in class actions and individual cases when an employee or employees have not been paid overtime.

If you believe that your employer is not correctly paying overtime, call our office to set up a free consultation. We will run through all of the facts of your case and provide you with our opinion as to whether you have enough to take a case forward. All cases are handled on a contingency fee basis, so there is no fee unless we win.

For more information or to speak to a lawyer, call us at (619) 377-4660.