I have never heard of a non-exempt position being salary. If my new employer wants to pay me salary instead of hourly, why not just call me an exempt salary employee ? What works in their favor by calling me non-exempt salary ?

I have been searching thru the web for hours and can only come up with different bits and pieces, so please help !

The offer letter I signed said this was a non-exempt position with an annual salary of $ 52,000. Since it said non-exempt I assumed this meant I was an hourly employee at $ 25.00 per hour.

They are saying that if I get called to jury duty I won't receive any pay for those days. They are also saying that our office is closed the day after Thanksgiving and a half-day for Christmas Eve with NO PAY. But if I am a salary employee, don't I get paid the same pay every pay period regardless of how many hours actually worked ?

Also, I started working here on Tuesday 1/2/07. For my first paycheck they only paid me for 4 days ($ 800 total). But again, if I am salary shouldn't I have been paid the full weeks salary of $ 1,000, even though I started working on Tuesday ? And why do I have to fill out a timesheet ? They just tell me to put down 8 hours for each day.

And now they are saying I have to be on-call on a monthly rotation with no extra pay.

I don't think I fit the bill for the "admininstrative exemption" since my job is providing customer care for a telephone company, taking service requests from customers, doing all customer billing and also inside sales to customers (with no bonuses or commissions).

I'm afraid if I give them an inch, they'll take a yard. I want to set the correct tone from the get go.

Can you also direct me to where I can find the state laws in writing to support your answers ? So I can show them ? Thanks much !

I have never heard of a non-exempt position being salary.

It exists and is legal. I don't particularly like it since it has a lot of potential problems, some of which you touch upon.

If my new employer wants to pay me salary instead of hourly, why not just call me an exempt salary employee ?

There are limitations on who can be exempt. Your salary is more than enough, even in California, to be exempt, but your duties might not allow them to classify you as exempt.

What works in their favor by calling me non-exempt salary ?

Nothing, really. Just makes payroll processing a little easier if your weekly schedule does not change much.

They are saying that if I get called to jury duty I won't receive any pay for those days. They are also saying that our office is closed the day after Thanksgiving and a half-day for Christmas Eve with NO PAY. But if I am a salary employee, don't I get paid the same pay every pay period regardless of how many hours actually worked ?

That would be true of exempt employees. Salaried, non-exempt is a whole different ball game and, so far as I can see, not well defined unless you are under the Fluctuating Work Week Method or Belo Plan (the former is not legal in California and I suspect the latter may not be, either). Even with those plans, I have seen arguments on this board about what happens when the salaried, non-exempt employee works less than 40 hours a week.

Also, I started working here on Tuesday 1/2/07. For my first paycheck they only paid me for 4 days ($ 800 total). But again, if I am salary shouldn't I have been paid the full weeks salary of $ 1,000, even though I started working on Tuesday ?

Nope. Even exempt employees do not have to be paid for the full week in their first and last weeks of employment.

And why do I have to fill out a timesheet ?

They want you to. Do it. Legal, even for exempt employees.

They just tell me to put down 8 hours for each day.

Uh, oh, don't put down eight hours a day. List ALL your hours. You must be paid overtime for working more than 40 hours in a work week (and California has stricter rules, like daily overtime).

And now they are saying I have to be on-call on a monthly rotation with no extra pay.

Legal, with no extra pay, unless the requirements of being on-call are very restrictive.

I don't think I fit the bill for the "admininstrative exemption" since my job is providing customer care for a telephone company, taking service requests from customers, doing all customer billing and also inside sales to customers (with no bonuses or commissions).

Not an issue, since you stated the company says you are non-exempt.

Go to www.dol.gov

Lots of info there, including

Salary for Workweek Exceeding 40 Hours: A fixed salary for a regular workweek longer than 40 hours does not discharge FLSA statutory obligations. For example, an employee may be hired to work a 45 hour workweek for a weekly salary of $300. In this instance the regular rate is obtained by dividing the $300 straight-time salary by 45 hours, resulting in a regular rate of $6.67. The employee is then due additional overtime computed by multiplying the 5 overtime hours by one-half the regular rate of pay ($3.335 x 5 = $16.68).

Overtime Pay May Not Be Waived: The overtime requirement may not be waived by agreement between the employer and employees. An agreement that only 8 hours a day or only 40 hours a week will be counted as working time also fails the test of FLSA compliance. An announcement by the employer that no overtime work will be permitted, or that overtime work will not be paid for unless authorized in advance, also will not impair the employee's right to compensation for compensable overtime hours that are worked.

The following is a good article on the handling for Salaried Non-Exempt employees.

http://payroll-taxes.com/articles/salaryAlternatives.html