Technicians & Engineers
Employment Lawyers for Technicians and Engineers
Under the relevant California labor laws and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, most technicians and technologists — such as engineers and workers in the avionics, veterinary and ultrasound fields — are entitled to receive overtime pay for working more than 8-hour workdays or 40-hour workweeks. At Blumenthal, Nordrehaug & Bhowmik, our California employment law attorneys focus on overtime wage and penalty litigation on behalf of technicians, technologists and other workers with specialized job skills.
California labor laws require employers to pay all technicians and technologists overtime wages at one and a half times the employee’s regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 8 hours in a workday, 40 hours in a workweek, or the first 8 hours of a seventh consecutive workday. There are certain exceptions to California overtime laws and regulations. In the case of technicians and technologists, employers often rely on the professional exemption to avoid paying for overtime labor. Instead of paying these techs overtime pay as required by California and federal Fair Standards Labor Act regulations, employers often illegally pay them a fixed salary without additional pay for overtime hours. Technologists and technicians are also regularly cheated out of Meal break and rest period.
As a general rule, in order to meet the labor law test of a learned professional employee who is not entitled to overtime pay, technologists and technicians must: Make at least $455 per week; primarily perform job duties that require advanced intellectual knowledge in a recognized field of science or learning; and consistently exercise independent discretion and judgment. The “advanced knowledge” requirement of the learned professional exemption refers to knowledge that technicians and technologists acquire through a long period of concentrated training and instruction, not experience gained at the current job. Technicians and technologists who become highly skilled by working, rather than by receiving formal instruction, are usually entitled to overtime wages.
When we investigate whether or not technical workers are entitled to overtime pay under California employment regulations and the federal Fair Standards Labor Act, our overtime law attorneys often discover that technicians and technologists are being cheated out of the full wages and benefits they are entitled to receive.
Examining the Employer’s Claimed Basis for Exemption From Overtime
Although California employers from Greater Los Angeles to the San Francisco Bay Area routinely label technicians and technologists as exempt from overtime pay, many workers do not meet the requirements of the learned professional overtime exception because the actual job duties they perform do not require a specialized academic degree that is a standard prerequisite for entrance into the profession.
If you are a technologist or a technician whose schooling ended upon graduating from a university and you are not paid overtime wages, our experienced labor law attorneys today can advise you about your potential claims for unpaid wages and penalties under the labor laws. We represent technologists and technicians throughout California in lawsuits to collect:
- Unpaid overtime wages and penalties on behalf of salaried technicians and technologists
- Meal break and rest period compensation and penalties
- Reimbursement for work-related expenses such as mandatory training
- Compensation for the time spent on call or standing by under the employer’s control
- Penalties for failing to pay hourly technicians for work performed off the clock
- Damages for wrongful termination or demotion
- Penalties for harassment or discrimination against technologists and technicians
Our employment law attorneys work with technologists and technicians throughout the state, including the San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego. Contact us to see how we can help you recover damages and unpaid wages under state or federal wage-and-hour laws.
