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Posts Tagged ‘Overtime’

You don’t want to be ripped off by your employer. Under California wage and hour law, you are entitled to overtime pay. This Guide will help keep your employer’s hand out of your wallet.

WORKING OFF THE CLOCK

With these trying economic times, more and more workers are being forced to forego pay which they are entitled to under California law. This is happening across America. Not just here in California. With high unemployment and so many over-qualified job seekers many workers feel pressured to work “off the clock.” That is, not receive wages that they are entitled to under the law.

For other workers, they feel pressured not to report employers stealing their wages, because they know that the next person will probably not complain. Because they have a spouse, a mortgage and hungry kids to feed. This is the work place reality in California today.

NOT RECEIVING OVERTIME

One way which employers steal employee wages is not paying overtime or “underpaying” overtime. California Wage and Hour laws have Overtime provisions. California’s wage and hour laws are much stricter than federal wage and hour laws and may be different than other states. Thus, this article about California overtime law only applies to California employees.

OVERTIME: TIME AND ONE-HALF

California has a general overtime provision. Workers who are 18 years of age or older can not be employed more than eight hours in any workday unless they receive one and one-half times their regular rate of pay. When they work over 40 hours in the workweek they must receive one and one-half times their regular rate of pay.

In California, a day’s work is 8 hours. Working beyond eight hours in any workday or more than six days in any workweek is permissible provided the California worker is compensated for the overtime at not less than:

1. One and one-half times the worker’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of eight hours up to and including 12 hours in any workday.

2. One and one-half times the worker’s regular rate for the first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.

3. Double the worker’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 12 hours in any workday.

4. Double the worker’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of eight on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Be sure to consult with a California wage and hour attorney if you feel like you have not been properly paid overtime pursuant to California law.

Overtime pay and minimum wage pay in Massachusetts are regulated by Massachusetts labor law and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  Under these standards, non-exempt workers are entitled to fair pay and treatment from their employers

Massachusetts Overtime Law

For non-exempt employees, any hours worked over 40 in a workweek are considered overtime by Massachusetts overtime law, and should be paid at time-and-a-half.

Non-exempt employees are those that do not work in an executive, administrative, or professional capacity (as defined by Massachusetts overtime law), or do not perform any other job type listed as exempt.  Some exempt job types include: seamen, hotel/motel employees, gas station workers, and outside salespersons.
A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of seven 24-hour days.  It must consistently begin and end on the same day, and it stands alone.  Your employer cannot take the average of two weeks of work to determine your overtime hours.
Time-and-a-half is 1.5 times your hourly rate of pay.  This applies to salaried workers too, who are not exempt from overtime simply by reason of being salaried.  If you are a non-exempt salaried employee, your hourly rate is your salary divided by 52 weeks, then divided by 40 hours [yearly salary ÷ 52 ÷ 40 = hourly rate]

Massachusetts Minimum Wage Law

The minimum wage in Massachusetts is .00 an hour.  Important exemptions and augmentations to this include:

Tipped employees: If you make over a month in tips, your minimum wage is .63 an hour.  However, your tips and that minimum wage together must average out to .00 an hour for your work.  If you are short of that, your employer is required by law to make up the difference.
Retail employees: If you work on a Sunday (which is optional, and cannot be required of you by your employer), your minimum wage is time-and-a-half of your regular hourly wage.

The Fair Labor Standards Act legislated a Federal minimum wage of .25 an hour, but covered employees in states with higher minimum wages, such as Massachusetts, are entitled to the higher minimum wage.

Other Massachusetts Labor Laws

Some other provisions of Massachusetts Labor Law that workers should be aware of include:

In most cases, Sunday is observed as a common day of rest, and businesses may not conduct operations on that day.
Vacation pay, sick pay, and severance pay are not mandated by law, but if you enter into an agreement with your employer concerning these benefits, they may be considered legal wages that are owed to you.

If you believe you have had wages withheld from you, you may be entitled to statutory damages including back pay, legal fees, and liquidated (double-pay) damages.  Visit USOvertimeLawyers.com for more Massachusetts labor law information.  Their experienced Massachusetts labor law attorneys can also review your claim and help you fight for your rights as a Massachusetts worker.