Ok so my husband is on a "daily" salary of 112$ He works 7-7 , 5-6 days a week. Wouldnt you think that if he works 12 hrs(which his salary adds up to pretty much minimum wage per hr) that if he were forced to go on a call(tow) at 6:55 pm that he would make some sort of overtime. Its now 8 and he is still on that call... And they are still going to require that he is there tomorrow morning bright and early. Another issue is his being on call. Every friday he works 7 to 7 brings the truck home. goes on calls all night. then has to be back for his shift the next morning... He still only gets paid his 112 and nothing for being on call... What should he do?:confused:

Just to be sure, are you certain that your husband is legally an employee (W2 at year end, taxes withheld from the pay check) and not a so-called independant contractor (1099 at year end, no taxes withheld from check)?

There are a large number of strange industry specific exceptions. I am not thinking of one associated with tow truck operators, but anything is possible. You could contact CA-DLSE and ask them. They are the same people with whom a wage claim would be filed, if applicable.

"On call" is legally complicated. I can get you the regulations, but they boil down to only applying if/when the employee has severe restrictions occur by being on-call, and the government has a very tough standard for "severely restricted". Paying for actual time worked is required. Carrying a pager or cell phone is not by itself "severely restricted" per the government.

Thanks DAW for answering... He is an actual employee.. tax with held and all that great stuff. They just had a meeting and the main focus was making sure you are at work all 12 hrs because that it what they pay them for.. but when he is there 13-15 hrs. he still is only making that minimum salary. Frustrating. So you had mentioned something about the on call issue. He doesnt really care about being on call its just they dont pay him for the calls he goes out on during the night. And I dont know how they can expect someone to operate a vehicle safely on only about 2 hrs sleep in 32 hrs. But you are saying he should pretty much get paid for ALL time worked? Do you know if this is valid when they are on a "daily" salary?

I am saying that you probably need to give CA-DLSE a call. I am not familar with any tow truck exceptions, but that does not mean that none exists. Absent a formal exception, the employer is required to pay minimum wage (currently $8/hr in CA), plus OT. Paying an a daily or other basis does not change that (by itself anyhow). I am saying that the default is paying the employee for all time worked. I am also saying that I have never done payroll for a tow truck company, and never had to hard research possible exceptions. I am aware of maybe 100 FLSA exceptions, but there are doubtless more that I have not heard of.

Talk to CA-DLSE.

cool... thank you for all your help