California Lawyers for Administrative Employee Wage Claims

Protecting Administrative and Clerical Personnel From Unfair Wage Practices

Many administrative employees are misclassified as exempt vs. non-exempt and don’t even know it. Under California overtime laws, the presumption is that all employees working in the state are entitled to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week or more than 8 hours in a workday. Employers can refuse to pay certain administrative employees — such as managers, supervisors and assistant managers and supervisors- overtime wages if the employees meet the job duties test for the administrative exemption.

In order to refuse to pay administrative employees such as managers and supervisors overtime wages, employers have the burden of proving that the employees are specifically excluded from state overtime laws and minimum wage requirements.

The Employer Has the Burden of Proof on Administrative Exemption Issues 

When an administrative employee shows uncompensated work in excess of 40 hours a week, it’s not up to the employee to prove a right to pay at a time-and-a-half rate. Instead, it’s up to the employer to prove that administrative employees are not entitled to overtime pay by showing that all of the following tests are met:

• The administrative employee’s duties and responsibilities involve either office or non-manual work directly related to management policies or general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customers;
• The administrative employee customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment and is not required to follow strict company guidelines and protocols;
• The administrative employee under only general supervision performs work along specialized or technical lines requiring special training, experience or knowledge, or executes under only general supervision special assignments and tasks; and
• The administrative employee earns a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment.

Many employers in California improperly classify administrative workers as “exempt” to avoid paying them overtime wages, when in fact these employees do not meet the test for theovertime exemption for administrative workers. If your current or former employer paid you a fixed salary without additional pay for working overtime hours in an administrative job position, you may be eligible to recover significant amounts of money in an overtime lawsuit.

At Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik, our employment lawyers have substantial experience representing administrative workers in cases to recover overtime wages and other penalties for violations of state labor laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Managers, Supervisors and Professionals Are Sometimes Entitled to Overtime 

After investigating whether or not administrative employees are entitled to overtime pay in California communities such as San Diego and San Francisco, our employment law lattorneys often find that:

• Even though managers and supervisors are required to follow strict company guidelines and procedures, employers do not pay managers and supervisors overtime wages
• Even though assistant managers and supervisors do not exercise independent discretion and judgment, employers do not pay the assistant managers and supervisors overtime pay
• Even though secretaries and other administrative staff spend a majority of their time performing clerical labor, employers refuse to pay them overtime wages
• Even though scientific employees working in laboratories or similar settings do not exercise discretion and judgment as to matters of significance, employers refuse to pay them overtime wages

Our attorneys have the resources and experience administrative employees are looking for when their current or former employer commits illegal employment practices. If you were an assistant manager or supervisor not making overtime pay, contact our employment lawyers today for a free consultation about whether you are entitled to collect unpaid overtime wages under California labor laws or the Fair Labor Standards Act.