California's Wage and Hour Laws: A Comprehensive Guide for Employers
- Brittany Crawford
- Apr 4, 2024
- 2 min read
California’s wage and hour laws are no joke, and rest assured the Department of Labor will come knocking on your door if they suspect any foul pay. California employers are getting hit with class action lawsuits left and right for failing to properly pay employees their overtime wages. These lawsuits can lead to hefty fees, fines, and penalties that can be detrimental. What does this mean for you?
It is your responsibility to ensure that your employees are being paid correctly and promptly. To determine overtime pay for nonexempt employees, several factors need to be taken into consideration. The primary metric used to calculate overtime pay is the number of hours worked in a workday. However, weekly totals, federal overtime rules, and industry-specific regulations also need to be considered.
The daily and weekly overtime pay requirements are as follows:
You must provide employees with 1.5 times their regular pay rate for all hours worked beyond 8 in a single workday, and for the first 8 hours worked on the seventh consecutive day in a workweek.
For all hours worked beyond 12 on a single workday and for hours worked beyond 8 on the seventh consecutive day worked in a single workweek, you must provide employees with double their regular rate of pay.
Employees must receive 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked beyond 40 straight-time hours in a workweek.
Wage and hour laws must be followed to ensure your employees are taken care of and your organization is protected. Think about implementing a policy requiring employees to obtain management consent before working any time outside of their regularly scheduled hours. Furthermore, employees should approve their time sheets after each pay period. This shows that employees have acknowledged receiving their meal and rest periods and that any overtime they have performed has been authorized. In the future, fewer claims of unpaid overtime or missed breaks may result from this.
Reach out to an HR consultant to evaluate your existing overtime and time monitoring policy or if you need assistance creating one.