California Employment Law - Bulletin | Career

By ColinRCherry
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As from January 1st, 2008 California now has the highest hourly rate of pay in the United States thanks to its employment law and the backing of it's Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. On that date a worker's minimum wage rose from $7.50 an hour to $8.00 and hour.

In addition, workers under California employment law provisions will also receive an increase in meal and lodging credits by the same percentage as the minimum wage increases. Be aware though, that under employers governed by California employment law, they can use the increased amounts for meals and lodging to count against minimum wage when they provide workers with meals/lodging.

These California employment law provisions do not apply to federal employees that work outside California. For those unfortunates the wage stays at $5.15 per hour.

The hottest issue in California employment law is the payment of overtime. This is an area of California employment law that is pretty much akin to stepping on a land mine. Why? Because there are two classes of workers under California employment law - exempt and non-exempt - and failure to know the difference can cost business big bucks.

If an employee entitled to overtime is treated as exempt, they could be eligible to a nice chunk of change for overtime pay once the dust settles.

On the plus side California employment law stipulates that when paying a non-exempt employee, that employee is subject to all the rules as set out by the Industrial Welfare Commission which means that he must be paid for all the overtime hours worked.

If you are an employer and are not sure into which category your workers fall, then check out the California employment law codes and regulations. Alternatively you can call the Department of Labor for advice.

Basically, the category under which an employee falls is based upon their level of responsibility or their professional status. Whether they are receive a wage or salary, or their job title does not have anything to do with it.

As a general rule of thumb, employees considered to be exempt under the law are licensed professionals. E.g. doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, and certified public accountants. Also exempt are managers who hire, fire, and train, and spend less than 50 percent of their time performing the same duties as their employees.

Two other categories that are considered to be exempt are travelling sales representatives and those who create or formulate business policies for their organizations. Again, if you have any questions about exempt versus non-exempt employees and how to make sure they are paid according to the law, check with the nearest Department of Labor office.

About the Author

In his working life Colin R Cherry has many years experience relating legal matters. Check out his Employment Law Guide for more tips and articles.

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