Wage and Overtime.

# Nurses and Hospital Employees. Are you a 12-hour employee at a hospital who receives 2 regular rates of pay that depends on whether you work a 12-hour shift or a shift of a different length? This additional payment can be called a 'California differential' or a 'short shift premium', but under any case, it is illegal, as it is simply two regular rates of pay with the only variance being the number of hours worked.

California Law. There are both federal and state laws that affect wage and overtime claims. As in most areas of labor law, California is more protective and gives greater rights and benefits to employees as opposed to federal law. The law requires workers to receive overtime based on a certain amount of hours per week worked.

Exempt Workers. This law does not apply to exempt workers. Primarily, exempt workers include managers and assistant managers. However, the mere classification of a person as a manager or assistant manager does not automatically make them exempt.

Work Performed by Managers. The law looks to the actual work performed by the person as opposed to their title.

  • Does the manager supervise people?
  • If so, how many and for what percentage of the work week?
  • Is the manager required to exercise independent judgment?

Overtime Pay For Managers. If the assistant manager or manager qualify as a non-exempt employee and work more than 40 hours a week, they are entitled to overtime pay even if they are on salary.

Class Action. In large chain stores, if the assistant manager or manager are misclassified, this usually applies to everyone in that category. An attorney will, therefore, file a class action on behalf of all similarly situated employees.