I'm a front and back office medical assistant in California and am starting a new job working front office (basically, a receptionist position in a small clinic--phones, filing, greeting customers, etc). I am paid hourly and am not on salary.

I am working from 8:30am to 7:30pm today and was wondering if my employer is legally required to pay me overtime. I was told in my interview that according to California labor laws, for the healthcare industry they will only pay you overtime if you work more than 40 hours in a week. Is this true? Can I end up working shifts like this and not getting paid overtime?

I've looked around at a lot of sites and it appears this isn't true, but I wasn't sure. Any help is much appreciated.

The only exception would be towards Student Nurse in a school accredited by the California Board of Registered Nursing or by the Board of Vocational Nurse and Psychiatric Technician Examiners. In California, you are paid overtime for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek or over 8 in a workday. If there is some specific guidance toward the healthcare industry that I am not aware of, someone will come along and correct me. ElleMD or Megan are the experts in Califronia law.

I also work for a hospital in oregon and when i first started working there,they paid us overtime for anything over 8 hours a day,now they only pay us anything over 40 in a work week (they made us sign a paper that we except that though it was required if we wanted to continue working there lol) so they could work us 3 12 hour shifts and give us 4 days off and not have to pay overtime...i dont like it but its legal.

I also work for a hospital in oregon and when i first started working there,they paid us overtime for anything over 8 hours a day,now they only pay us anything over 40 in a work week (they made us sign a paper that we except that though it was required if we wanted to continue working there lol) so they could work us 3 12 hour shifts and give us 4 days off and not have to pay overtime...i dont like it but its legal.
turbowray, it is California---different country!

Turboray, in CA, the law REQUIRES that you receive OT for over 8 in a day in most circumstances. In Oregon, it is not required by law.

So this is not true? I would really like to know. Today I worked 10 and a half hours and was again informed I would not receive overtime, as I'm a "healthcare worker". They wanted me to work from 9-9 this week (again with no overtime).

DES,

In the healthcare field in California, your employer is allowed to establish an alternative work week. They do this by holding a valid election for the proposed schedule. If the schedule wins, then it can waive your daily overtime up to 12 hours in a day. After the 12 hour mark, all time must be paid at doulbe time.

The election could have taken place long before you started work there. To see if the employer complied with the election rules, you can visit this site.
http://www.dir.ca.gov/databases/dlsr/DLSR-AWE.html

If your employer is on the list, then you might not get the overtime. If not, they are likely in violation of the law.

I say "might not" get the overtime because even if they have a vaild election, they must comply with the schedule that was voted on. If they are varying your schedule and it does not comply with the one voted on, then the election is not valid for your schedule and you are entitled to overtime.

Thanks for the link and the response--it was very helpful. I double checked and my workplace is definitely not listed.

I was advised to keep a copy of my timecard every day I'm there...I'll sure be doing that.

I knew it was a bad sign going in when I found out that ALL of the employees who worked there before I started had quit. Every single one of them.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who's responded.

i learn something new every day!! sorry for the wrong answer though!!