Oakland Overtime & Double Time Lawyer

You Must Be Paid for Overtime and Double Time. It’s the Law.

The law states that you must be paid an overtime premium (150%) for any time you work in excess of 8 hours in a day, more than 40 hours per week, or on the seventh consecutive day in a week. For example, if you work nine hours in any day and your normal rate of pay is $12, then you must be paid 8 hours of regular time at $12 per hour plus 1 hour of overtime at $18 per hour.

You must also be paid double time (200%) for any time you work over 12 hours in any day or more than 8 hours that you work on a seventh consecutive day in a week. For example, if you work 13 hours in any day and your normal rate of pay is $12 per hour then you must be paid 8 hours of regular time at $12 per hours plus 4 hours of overtime at $18 per hour plus one hour of double time at $24 per hour.

The requirement to pay overtime and double time cannot be waived or changed by the employee through any kind of oral or written agreement and therefore any agreement to waive or give up overtime has no legal effect.

The requirement to pay overtime and double time cannot be waived or changed by the employee through any kind of oral or written agreement and therefore any agreement to waive or give up overtime has no legal effect. The vast majority of employees must be paid overtime and double time unless they fall into certain narrow exceptions of “exempt employees.” The classification of employees as “non-exempt” (i.e., the vast majority of employees who must receive overtime and double-time pay) and “exempt” (i.e., the narrow minority of employees who do not need to receive overtime or double time pay) depends generally on the nature of their job and their compensation.

Employer Cannot Make You Non-Exempt Just by Paying a Salary

An employer cannot “convert” an employee to exempt status from overtime or double time by paying the employee a fixed salary regardless of the number of hours worked, labeling them a “salary” or “exempt employee,” or even having the employee agree that they are a “salary” or an “exempt employee.” In fact, when an employer pays an employee a flat salary regardless of the number of hours worked, the employer exposes itself to additional liability because the salary is considered to be compensation only for regular hours worked and all of the overtime/double-time hours are considered to be completely unpaid.

When an employer pays an employee a flat salary regardless of the number of hours worked, it exposes itself to liability.

This means that (1) the rate of pay per hour is calculated by taking the salary and dividing it by the number of regular hours worked (a $1,000 weekly salary is divided by 40 hours of regular time to arrive at a $25 per hour hourly rate regardless of the number of additional overtime/double-time hours worked), (2) the employee is entitled to receive 150% or 200% of their regular rate for the overtime and double-time hours worked (in this case $37.50 for every overtime hour worked and $50 for every double-time hour worked), and (3) since the employee is considered not to have been paid for any of their overtime or double time hours, the employee is also entitled to liquidated damages equal to the total amount of pay owed for the unpaid overtime and double-time hours (in effect doubling of what is owed for overtime and double time).

Don’t it alone. You need an attorney to get what’s due you.

The recovery of overtime/double-time wages, penalties, and interest can be difficult and contentious. This is why you should hire experienced minimum wage lawyers to guide you through the process. We are attorneys who specialize in wage litigation. We work on a contingency basis to recover your owed wages so we don’t get paid until you get paid. If you or someone you know has not been paid overtime/double-time wages at work, please call or email us. We may be able to recover unpaid wages, civil penalties, interest going back four years, and attorneys’ fees.

The Oakland overtime & double time lawyers of Venardi Zurada LLP provides free consultations for wage and hour law throughout California. We are experienced employment lawyers who fight hard for our clients. If we are able to take your case, we pay all litigation costs. We only get paid our costs and attorneys’ fees if you get compensation.

Get a Free Case Review

If you are an employee who feels their rights have been violated, or you need help negotiating or reviewing your employee contract, please call to speak to one of our expert employment law attorneys at 833-893-6763 or submit our form.

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