You are entitled to overtime unless you are exempt. The exemptions are a bit different for federal and state law.California’s exemptions are listed below.
You are exempt from overtime—that is, you aren’t entitled to earn overtime, no matter how many hours you work—if you fit into one of these categories:
- sheepherders
- irrigators
- actors
- motion picture projectionists
- crew members on commercial fishing vessels
- ride operators employed by traveling carnivals
- student nurses attending certain accredited schools
- taxi drivers
- certain airline employees
- drivers of school buses and certain commercial vehicles
- those participating in a national service program, like AmeriCorp
- those who are employed by a child, spouse, or parent
- announcers, news editors, or chief engineers of radio or television stations in towns or cities with no more than 25,000 residents
- babysitters under the age of 18
- certain personal attendants
- employees covered by collective bargaining agreements that provide for pay that exceeds the minimum wage by set amounts and provide for overtime premium pay
employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement under the Railway Labor Act - employees who earn more than 1.5 times the minimum wage and receive more than half of their compensation in the form of commissions
- outside salespeople (those who work at least half of their time away from the employer’s place of business selling items or obtaining contracts or orders for products, services, or facilities)
- certain employees in the computer software field who earn a minimum hourly rate (the rate is adjusted each year), and
- executive, administrative, and professional employees (those whose work is primarily intellectual, creative, administrative, or managerial and requires the use of independent judgment and discretion, as long as they are paid at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time employment and meet other requirements; examples may include upper management, executive assistants, teachers, accountants, artists, composers, and more).
David Payab, Esq. from The Law Offices of Payab & Associates can be reached @ (818) 918-5522 or by visiting http://payablaw.com
