Attorneys for Overtime, Minimum Wages and Missed Meal Breaks
Most employees are entitled to overtime compensation when they work more than 40 hours in a week. California law requires overtime pay for all hours after eight hours in a day and an additional hour of pay when you have to work through your meal break. Employers often try to avoid paying overtime and meal period pay by either misclassifying their employees as "exempt" from the overtime laws or making them work "off the clock."
Hinton Alfert Sumner & Kaufmann's employment law group represents workers who have been denied overtime pay and meal breaks or were not paid the minimum wage. We have recovered millions of dollars for employees through both class actions and individual lawsuits in California and other states. Some of the issues in our cases are listed below.
"Exempt" Misclassification
One of the common misconceptions held by employees and employers is that companies do not need to pay overtime (or give meal breaks) if they call their workers "exempt" and pay them a salary. But, paying a salary and giving a worker an "exempt" title do not excuse employers from following these laws. Employers must also meet stringent requirements showing that the workers that they claim to be "exempt" are true executives, professionals, or administrative employees or that they fit squarely within another specific exemption to state and federal laws.
"Off the Clock" Work
Even where employers admit that their employees have the right to overtime, many still fail to pay them properly for all overtime or other hours worked. For example, employers may refuse to pay for working at home, work-related travel time, time spent preparing equipment, being on call, attending meetings, and changing into and out of uniforms or special gear. Failure to pay for such work-related activities may also violate state and federal minimum wage laws.
Overtime and Missed Meals
Employers also frequently fail to pay the proper rate of pay for overtime or missed meals. Often this occurs because the employer fails to account for all forms of compensation, such as commissions, piece rates, and other forms of production pay or bonuses when calculating overtime pay.
Examples of Our Cases
Our overtime, minimum wage, and meal period cases include issues, such as:
- Technical writers, assistant construction managers, and hotel and theater managers who have been misclassified as exempt employees. (read more about these verdicts and settlements and ongoing cases)
- Retail salespeople and garbage truck drivers who are denied meal breaks (read more about these verdicts and settlements and ongoing cases)
For additional information about overtime pay, minimum wage laws, and pay for missed meal breaks, please contact us or call 877-639-1737 toll free to speak with a Walnut Creek employment lawyer.
