I have a question about Comp time in California. I work at a preschool in california, 40 hours a week. I do not work on salary. I am required to attend meetings on saturdays and go to school functions( overtime) . I have never recieved overtime pay with this company. I only recieve comp time. I have no choice. Is this ok? Can my company legally do this? Please help me out. thanks!

What are your duties there? And is it private or public?

It is a private preschool and I am an assistant teacher. I help teach the kids, clean up after them, and a bunch of other things. The events that require me to work overtime are for Mother's Day, Father's Day, Open house, Gradparent's day, halloween carnival, Christmas performance, etc...

Assuming that you do not have a teaching degree and are a licensed teacher(with which you MIGHT be classifed as a Professional, i.e., exempt employee), my best guess is that you would be a nonexempt employee, and thereby entitled to overtime pay per California regulations.
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_Overtime.htm

Generally speaking, compensatory time cannot legally be substituted for overtime pay (even if comp time is requested by the employee) in the private sector.

Contact the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement immediately.

Thank you so much. Do you, by any chance, know exactly where it talks about comp time in the Labor Code? I really need to know! thanks!

Comp time is covered is Cal. Labor Code Sections 204.3 and 513. The main point from them would be that while the employer can require you to work extra hours, you can not be required to take comp time if you do not want it.

I went to your site, very interesting. I do have one question though; if I understand you correctly an employee has to meet ALL the requirements to be salary exempt. According to my company we are told that we only have to meet one or more of the requirements. Thus everyone at my work site is classified as salary exempt.

We are compensated for working over 80 hours in a pay period by utilizing what is designated as a “shortened work week”. I guess this is in lieu of designating it as comp time, thus keeping everyone exempt and not having to pay overtime.

The federal laws allow an exemption for people who make more than $100,000 per year. In this case, if they meet any one of the requirements for the exemption, then they are exempt. As such, people who make more than $100K per year are almost always exempt from the federal regulations. California has no such exemption. Also, in general, comp time in California is so difficult to use that it is infrequently done. The method that you describe would not comply with California law. The main issue for you would simply be whether of not CA law applies. If it does, then you need to meet ALL of the qualifications for at least one of the exemptions.

I do want to clarify that you only need to meet all of the requirements for one of the exemptions. You don't need to meet all the requirements for executive, and administrative, and professional. Meeting any one of these exemptions will make you exempt.

Thanks,

I can assure you that none of us, except maybe the site mgr, makes near 100k. However the company claims that we only need to meet one the requirements for one of the exemptions. In other words we do "engage in highly technical or creative work", but a degree is only preferred and not required, and no one at my level meets "all" the requirements for Executive/management personnel, with exception of the supervisors who have just recently been integrated into the recommendation process for hire and fire.


I must admit that we do prefer the exempt status though, and with the work around for comp time most everyone that I have talked too prefers that too. I just get frustrated because I believe that the HR person and the site mgr are not as informed as they should be....

Thanks again

I think I have a pretty good understanding of the different status';however, I have one more question.

If an employee does not have PTO and he only works a partial week, say 60hrs, and the company requires 80hrs in a pay period, can the company require him to take leave without pay (LWOP).

My understanding is that an exempt employee should get his entire salary for the whole pay perioid if he worked any portion of it. I also understand that if the employee works a partial day, say 4 out of 8, the company can require him/her to take 4 hours of PTO, but can the company force him/her to take LWOP, and is the company risking the challenge of the employee's exempt status?

It depends on the reasons he does not work a full week. The employer may legally dock an exempt employee's salary in the following circumstances ONLY:

1.) It is either the first or last week of employment, and the employee did not work a full week
2.) The employee is on FMLA
3.) The employer offers a reasonable number of paid sick days, and the employee calls in sick at a time when he has either used all the time available to him, or is not yet eligible for any
4.) The employee takes a day off for personal reasons
5.) The employee was suspended for a major safety violation
6.) The employee was suspended for violation of a written company policy which is applicable to all employees and which concerns conduct (violence in the workplace, sexual harassment, drugs/alcohol on the premises, etc.)

If the exempt employee misses a full day for any of these reasons (a partial day can only be docked in the case of #2, FMLA) then it is legal to dock his salary, and if there is no vacation, sick, personal or PTO time to cover it, then in these circumstances it can be unpaid. If the exempt employee missed time for any reason not covered above, then it has to be paid even if there is no PTO, vacation, etc. time to cover it.