FAQs About Overtime Pay for Nonexempt Employees

With California's deficit crisis threatening to shut down the state government by spring, Gov. Schwarzenegger is looking at options to raise state income including ways to "keep jobs in California." Two of the areas he is considering "reforming" (paring back on worker's rights) is in how and when employers must offer breaks, lunch, and even overtime pay.

For example, current California law requires mandatory, unpaid, half-hour lunch breaks be given before the end of the sixth consecutive hour on the job. Now employers say "employees" want more flexibility and that they should be allowed to eat and work, rather than take a break on the job. Yeah. Right.

Even though California has a law on the books that exempts employers from paying overtime to individual workers who ask to alter their schedules to take care of personal needs, employers are now demanding more flexibility in not paying overtime to workers.

I am appalled that the Governator is considering penalizing workers for a state government's failure (I live in California and run my own corporation here as well so feel entitled to speak from experience). Hopefully, Federal law will prevail when sanity apparently is not, and our workers' rights will be upheld in the Golden State.

Are your familiar federal law overtime laws? If you have any employees, you should be!

• FAQs About Overtime Pay for Nonexempt Employees
• How to Determine if an Employee is Exempt From Overtime Pay
• How to Determine if an Employee is Nonexempt