Hey -

I am employed as a receptionist in California (thereby, not exempt by any means) and my private employer has me on a salary basis (less than 2x min wage). I am forced to work 9 to 6, take an unpaid one hour lunch, and on top of that he makes me stay late to help him with frivolous task (xmas cards) and such. I have worked there a month and a half and have not received an ounce of overtime and also believe he does not keep track of my extra time (I do, but sometimes I miss a few days). I'm not sure if the company makes over $500,000 per year(FLSA 'covered' requirement?), but that shouldn't apply in CA should it?

Also, I took a day off as being sick and it was deducted from my semimonthly paycheck. He then told me I could "make it up" by coming into work on a saturday 2 weeks later. Keep in mind this Saturday is after I already worked 40 hours the previous 5 days and sometime over that. Shouldn't I be paid time and a half for that whole day too, instead of making up the sick day?

Please help, so that I have some information to back up my research and that I can get paid my overtime. Thanks!

Shoudl I go back and check all the extra time I worked and hand it to him all at once, file a complaint? I'm nervous because he is really mean sometimes and tempermental.

(yes I have been looking for other jobs)

I am not sure what you are asking for. The law in California is quite clear. Overtime is paid after 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week unless you are exempt. This is covered in Cal. Labor Code §510, and supported by various Industrial Welfare Commission Wage orders 1-2000 through 17-2001 which are codified in California Code of Regulations, Title 8, §11000 et seq.

If you think that quoting the above laws to your employer will help, then feel free to, but I just don't see it as being productive.

You are correct that California does not require the business to make $500,000 per year. However, you can still be covered under the FLSA if your company does not make $500,000 per year. If your particular job involves you in "interstate commerce," you will be covered by FLSA even if your company makes less than $500,000 per year. The Department of Labor has stated :


Examples of employees who are involved in interstate commerce include those who: produce goods (such as a worker assembling components in a factory or a secretary typing letters in an office) that will be sent out of state, regularly make telephone calls to persons located in other States, handle records of interstate transactions, travel to other States on their jobs, and do janitorial work in buildings where goods are produced for shipment outside the State.


Thus, if you are a receptionist and regulary make or take calls from persons located in other States, you would be covered by FLSA.

The reason that this is important is that California only requires that the employer pay you the overtime. Under the FLSA, the employer can be made to pay double that amount as damages.

I will also comment in general about back overtime pay. Unless you are up against a statute of limitations because your work was over 3 years old, it is frequently best to wait until after you have left the company to demand payment. In fact, for many claims, it is frequently best to wait 30 days after you have left the company before you demand payment.

The reason is that it is your employers responsibility to pay you all overtime wages when due. It is not your responsibility to remind your employer to pay you. If your employer willfully does not pay all of your wages due (including overtime) upon termination, in California, your wages will continue for up to 30 days. When there is simply no way the person could be exempt, it will almost always be a "willful" violation.

To see this, let us say that Joe makes $10 per hour and doesn't get overtime for 5 hours a week. He works for six months and then quits. The day he quits, he tells his Boss, "Hey boss, you owe me overtime for 5 hours a week. You only paid me straight time for that work, so you owe me $5/per hour for 5 hours a week for the last 24 weeks. You owe me $600." So, the employer pays him the money.

Now Sue, who worked the same job but is more familiar with the law, waits 30 days to complain. She says "Hey boss, you owe me overtime for 5 hours a week. You only paid me straight time for that work, so you owe me $5/per hour for 5 hours a week for the last 24 weeks. You owe me $600. In addition, you owe me 30 days waiting time penalties. I made $10/hour for 8 hours a day and get penalties for 30 days. You also owe me $2400 in penalties for a total of $3000."

Sue would say "You also didn't print my total hours worked on my paycheck -- you only showed 40 hours a week. This violates Cal. Labor Code §226(a). I have been been injured by not being able to verify my hours and having to keep track of my own hours on my own time and I am entitled to $50 for the first pay period you did this and $100 for each subsequent pay period up to a total of $4000. I worked for 6 months and got paid twice a month. As such, I am entitled to and additional $1150."

Finally, Sue would say "I know this office is small and makes less than $500,000 per year, but I also made and took calls from people out of the state, so my overtime is a federal violation. Since it is clear that you owed me overtime, your violation is willful and you owe me an additional $600 in liquidated damages under 29 U.S.C. §207 and §216. Thus, the total you owe me is $4750."

The above numbers represent a fictitious example. It assumes that the person is non-exempt, that the work was performed in California, that the regular rate of pay is $10 per hour, that the hours worked are as stated, and that the actual hours worked were not printed on a pay-stub. If any of these parameters are different, the amount of damages would be different.

Thank you so very much. You actually hit it on the head for a lot of things. Also, regarding overtime pay, its not that he doesn't pay time and a half, he doesn't even pay me the time. If I go into work, I get 8 hours, no matter how long I stay. For instance, I didn't even get a full lunch one day and even during my 25 minute 'lunch', I still had to answer phone calls. I don't think they have the slightest clue.

Based on what MTracy said I have a question,

I’ve been working for a company for aprox 7 months now. I realized that for the first 5 months I was not getting paid time and half for o/t pay, just my hourly rate. I let them know of the situation and so far they have not paid me the balance.

After I mentioned the situation my clock out time became an issue. For some reason I am late to work 5-10 minutes usually. Sometimes if there is traffic or if I get stuck behind a train I get to work 20-30 min late. They had told me to clock out at 4pm (I am scheduled to start at 7am) even if I am late, but a lot of days I end up staying that extra 10 or 20 minutes because there is always work to do. Sometimes I go over 8 hours. This pay period they told me I am not being paid for anything over 8 hours, and they crossed out all the minutes after 8 hours and that was that. (They said I can only work o/t if I have permission to, but I don’t have an alarm clock strapped to my head that tells me ive worked 8hours exact) Am I still entitled to o/t pay?

Next issue, this same pay period I noticed my lunch periods were 45min some days, but they rounded to an hour and deducted an hour for lunch even though I clocked in and was working. I am not getting paid twice the minimum wage.

What are my options and what can I do about these issues? I read a lot of the labor code tonight, and have a general idea; I would just like a more educated analysis

You must be paid for all hours worked. Period. And overtime, as required by law. If you have not been, you can file a claim with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.

However, a lot of this problem would be eliminated if you were not "usually" late for work. Leave earlier and sit and drink some coffee if you get there early. ;)

true, and i do agree. but i think there is more there than just me getting there early. They manually adjusted my hours etc.. they use to pay me my hourly rate for my o/t but not time and half. i mean yah, being late is one thing, but at times staying after is because they throw me so many things to do.