California Employment Law - Bulletin
Colin R Cherry
Did you know that thanks to California employment law and the backing of the current Governor, California will have the highest hourly rate of pay in the USA starting January 1, 2008? California employment law will then dictate that a worker's minimum wage will be $8.00 an hour, up from $7.50 an hour.
An added plus is that meal and lodging credits rose by a similar percentage for those workers receiving them from their employers. On the downside, these credits can be included when calculating the minimum wage payable by employers.
Unfortunately, if you are a federal employee and work outside California, your wage remains at $5.15/hour. That bites!
The hottest issue in California employment law is the payment of overtime. This is an area of California employment law that is pretty much akin to stepping on a land mine. Why? Because there are two classes of workers under California employment law - exempt and non-exempt - and failure to know the difference can cost business big bucks.
A non exempt employee who works overtime will be taxed on that overtime, but an exempt employee, although still taxed, would be eligible for a nice little tax rebate from the IRS.
Is there a difference when paying an exempt versus non-exempt worker? Under California employment law, a non-exempt worker is subject to all pay rules set up by the Industrial Welfare Commission - that includes overtime. In other words, a non-exempt employee must be paid all overtime hours worked.
If you are an employer and are not sure into which category your workers fall, then check out the California employment law codes and regulations. Alternatively you can call the Department of Labor for advice.
Basically, the category under which an employee falls is based upon their level of responsibility or their professional status. Whether they are receive a wage or salary, or their job title does not have anything to do with it.
Examples of exempt employees under California employment law would include licensed professionals such as lawyers, engineers, doctors, certified public accountants and architects. Managerial staff who are responsible for training, hiring and firing and spend less than 50 percent of their time performing the same duties as their staff also qualify.
The other two categories considered to be exempt are outside sales reps and those who create/formulate business policies for their organizations. Again, if you have any questions about exempt versus non-exempt employees and how to make sure they are paid according to the law, check with the nearest Department of Labor office. Save yourself some time and grief in the long run.
Colin R Cherry writes on a variety of subjects. Check out his http://www.bestemploymenttips.com/ Employment Guide website. A wealth of http://www.bestemploymenttips.com/law/) Employment Law articles are to be found here.
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