You just got a new job, and part of the reason that you took it is because there’s an opportunity for overtime pay. You’re hoping that this will lead to higher overall wages and earnings during the course of the year.
But you’ve only been on the job for a few weeks when you start running into problems. One Monday, you’re asked to work for a full nine hours. You believe you deserve overtime pay for the final hour, but your boss tells you that you don’t actually earn overtime until you exceed 40 hours during the week. How do the overtime pay laws work?
Every 8 hours in California
In other states, your boss may be correct. This is sometimes an issue when employers move to a different state and begin doing business without considering how labor laws may be different. In some states, workers have to exceed 40 hours during the workweek to get any overtime pay.
California, however, pays overtime on a daily basis. Any day that someone works more than eight hours and fewer than 12, they deserve overtime pay for those additional hours. If they exceed 12 hours, then they deserve double their standard rate.
In practicality, this may mean that you also break 40 hours during the week, so you’d be paid correctly. But even if you only work one day a week, if that work exceeds either eight or 12 hours, you could be eligible for significantly elevated payments.
Resolving a dispute
This could lead to a contentious dispute if your employer does not know how the overtime laws work. Make sure you are well aware of all of your legal rights at this time.
