Non-exempt employees in California have specific rights under the state’s wage and hour laws. If you are a non-exempt employee, you must know about these laws to safeguard your workplace rights. As per California’s employment laws, non-exempt employees are those workers who receive payment on an hourly basis, are not independent contractors, or do not fall in the exempt class that earns twice the minimum hourly rate for full-time work.
Aside from being classified by your employer as a non-exempt employee, they must give you the state-mandated minimum payment for hourly work. You are also entitled to get paid for any overtime or double-time work. Additionally, the law requires your employer to provide you with reasonable time off from work for meal and rest breaks. Some employers may be negligent about paying you or allowing legally mandated breaks out of ignorance of the employment laws. Discussing the matter politely with them may correct the situation. If not, you may want to search online for “wage and hour attorney Los Angeles” and get legal advice from a competent attorney.
Understanding Wage and Hour Laws
The wage and hour laws in California have the following specific requirements:
Employees must receive minimum wages
As a non-exempt employee, you must receive a minimum payment for every hour of work you perform in a workday. The minimum rate that your employer has to pay you can vary depending on the number of people working for them. For example, employers with 25 or more employees must pay each employee $14 per hour. If the employers have 26 or more employees, the minimum wage they must pay them for each hour of work is $15.
Please note that this wage rate may increase in the coming years. It is advisable that you check the current rate when you undertake non-exempt hourly work. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), a department of the California Labor Commission, will have the correct information. Additionally, the attorney you find by searching online for “wage and hour attorney Los Angeles” will be able to confirm the current payment rate.
Employees must receive overtime wages
As per the law, regular work hours are eight hours a day or 40 hours a week. If you work longer than that or work for eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of the workweek, it becomes overtime work, and you are entitled to receive overtime wages for each hour of work you do. The rate for overtime work is one and one-half times the regular hourly rate.
Employees must receive double-time wages
If you work more than 12 hours per day or more than eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of the workweek, you are entitled to receive double-time wages. That is, double your regular rate of wages per hour. The formula for calculating double-time wages is:
Employees must receive regular meal breaks
For every five hours of work you do, you must receive a 30-minute meal break. If you work more than ten hours, your employer has to allow a second meal break of 30 minutes. If your employer does not allow meal breaks, the law requires them to pay you an hour’s pay extra for each work shift.
Employees must receive reasonable rest breaks
After every four hours of work, you can take a ten-minute paid rest break. If your employer refuses to let you take the legally mandated rest breaks, they have to pay you an hour’s pay extra. If you are a female employee with a new baby, you can take breaks in separate areas for breastfeeding. These will be paid breaks if taken concurrently with existing ones. Otherwise, they are unpaid. The employer is not obliged to permit them if they interfere with business operations.
Your legal options under wage and hour laws
If your employer violates the wage and hour laws, you can get legal representation by searching online for “wage and hour attorney Los Angeles.” You can file a separate lawsuit or be part of a class-action lawsuit with other employees to recover unpaid compensation. Along with payment for back wages, overtime, double-time, and breaks, the compensation will cover the interest on the payment and attorney fees.
