California Labor Laws Max Hours per Day

Overtime laws may not apply to employees who accept or choose another weekly work schedule. Alternative weekly work schedules are common in the areas of health care and emergencies, and applicants are usually aware of such a schedule when applying. A typical alternative work schedule is four days of 10 hours. However, an employee may agree to waive this meal break if he or she does not work more than six (6) hours per day. In addition, an employee may waive this second meal break if he or she does not work more than 12 hours and has not given up the first meal break. A group rate for pieceworkers is an acceptable method of calculating the regular wage rate. When using this method, the total number of coins produced by the group is divided by the number of people in the group, with each person being paid accordingly. The regular rate for each employee is determined by dividing the salary received by the number of hours worked. The regular rate must not be lower than the minimum wage.

Under California law, an employer is any person (as defined in Section 18 of the Labor Code) who exercises or exercises control over a person`s wages, hours, or working conditions, directly or indirectly or through a representative or other person. In Section 18 of the California Labor Code, a “person” means any person, association, organization, partnership, commercial trust, limited liability company, or corporation. The law led to California`s minimum wage being set at $10.50 per hour in 2017 and raised to $15 per hour by 2023. This will inevitably have an impact on the hours worked by agricultural workers. Another aspect of the new state overtime law for agriculture was gradually introduced from 2019 and will be completed by 2022. During the working day, non-exempt workers are entitled to rest periods and meal breaks. Breaks must last at least ten (10) minutes per four (4) hours of work. Breaks must be counted as working time and paid for by the employer.4 New daily and weekly overtime thresholds will be phased in until agricultural workers reach 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week by 2022 (for employers with more than 25 employees) or by 2025 (for employers with 25 or fewer employees).

The implementation plan for large employers (more than 25 employees) is as follows: as of January 1, 2019: 9.5 hours per day or 55 hours per week; from 1 January 2020: 9 hours per day or 50 hours per week; from 1 January 2021: 8.5 hours per day or 45 hours per week; From 1 January 2022: 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week, as well as double time after 12 hours per day. The schedule for small employers (25 employees or less) is as follows: as of January 1, 2022: 9.5 hours per day or 55 hours per week; from 1 January 2023: 9 hours per day or 50 hours per week; from 1 January 2024: 8.5 hours per day or 45 hours per week; from 1 January 2025: 8 hours per day or 40 hours per week, as well as double time after 12 hours per day. Employers can decide the day and time the work week begins, but the lag of those days and hours does not outweigh the responsibility to pay overtime if an undisturbed employee works more than 40 hours per week. Non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime, breaks, and meal breaks under California labor laws. This includes “persons employed in professional, technical, commercial, mechanical and similar occupations, whether paid on a timely, piecework, commission or other basis.” 11 (B) If an employee is required to report to work a second time on a business day and less than two (2) hours of work are performed on the second report, that employee will be paid for two (2) hours at the employee`s normal rate of pay, which shall not be less than the minimum wage. No violation of the provisions on daily overtime by an employer referred to in Article 5 introducing a validly adopted alternative weekly working schedule providing for working days of more than 10 hours but not more than 12 hours in a 40-hour week without payment of overtime, provided that: (b) pay at least two hours of work, the employee`s normal rate of pay; if the employee has to report to work a second time on a working day and receives less than two hours of work for the second report. In fact, 80.4% of farm businesses planned to reduce the hours available to farm workers. In addition, 78% of producers surveyed said they plan to mechanize their existing more labor-intensive jobs. Example: Simon works in a graphic design company and receives an hourly rate of $20 per hour. Simon is a non-exempt employee and usually works 5 days a week, 8 hours a day. In addition to minimum hours of work and reports on time compensation, California has other provisions for various pay situations, which can be found in the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) Policy and Enforcement Interpretations Manual.

These include the following categories: Employees who work during their alternative weekly working hours or more than 40 hours per week are paid at least one and a half (1 1/2) of the regular wage rate. Any work longer than 12 hours per day is paid at least twice the employee`s normal wage rate.10 California`s Wages and Hours of Work Act requires employers to pay overtime if non-exempt workers work for a certain number of hours on the work day or work week. California labor laws also require employers to offer meal and rest breaks throughout the workday. In other words, in California, if a worker`s scheduled shift is only five hours, the reporting time would be two and a half hours. However, since the law also provides for at least two hours of recording wages, an employee whose scheduled shift is only one and a half hours would still be entitled to the two-hour minimum wage for the period in question. It is important that employees and employers are aware of the overtime pay threshold. Employers must pay overtime if the employee exceeds certain working hours, and employers who do not follow them properly or who do not pay overtime could be at stake for financial damage if that employee files a lawsuit. Employees have several rights in California.

While laws are constantly evolving and, in many cases, offer greater protection for workers, your basic rights as an employee in California include: If your employer discriminates against you in any way or retaliates against you, such as firing you because you file a wage claim or threaten to file a wage claim with the Commissioner of Labor, you can file a complaint of discrimination/reprisal with the office of the labour commissioner. Send. Alternatively, you can take legal action against your employer. Overtime is paid at one and a half (1 1/2) times an employee`s normal rate of pay. However, any work of more than 12 hours per day will be paid with at least (2) an employee`s regular rate of pay. Any work of more than eight (8) hours on the seventh day of a work week is paid twice as much as the normal rate.18 In other words, in California, the “minimum working time” per day can vary from two to four hours, depending on the employee`s normal shift and particular circumstances. If you worked for an employer in California that didn`t comply with the Fair Labor Standards Act or state labor laws, such as overtime requirements, you may be able to file a lawsuit over wages and hours. That depends.

An employee must work overtime unless they meet the criterion for release status under federal and state laws, or are expressly exempt from overtime by the provisions of the California Labor Code or one of the Industrial Welfare Commission`s wage orders governing wages, hours, and working conditions. No overtime pay is required on the seventh (7th) consecutive working day of a work week if the total period of employment during that work week does not exceed 30 and the total period of employment of one working day of which it does not exceed six. California employers must count wait time or wait time as hours worked if employees are unable to use the time effectively for their own purposes. The fact that employees are not allowed to perform actual work tasks during the waiting or on-call period allows the employer to exclude time from its calculation of hours worked. If employees are subject to employer control, employees must be compensated if they do nothing or expect something. No, you are not entitled to overtime pay. Overtime is calculated based on the hours actually worked, and you only worked 40 hours during the week. Another example where you receive your regular salary but time is not counted in overtime is if you are paid for vacation but do not work that day. In such a case, the time on which vacation pay is based does not count as hours worked for the purposes of determining overtime, since no work was performed. Yes, California law requires employers to pay overtime, whether authorized or not, at one and a half times the employee`s normal rate of pay for all hours worked of more than eight to 12 hours per work day and for the first eight hours of work on the seventh consecutive day of work in a work week. and double the employee`s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in a workday greater than 12 hours and for all hours working more than eight hours on the seventh consecutive work day of a work week.