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Q: If I am paid a salary does that mean I am exempt from overtime? A: It depends. Being paid a salary is only one of several requirements an employee must meet to qualify as an exempt employee. Employers often misclassify their employees. For more information please look at our exemption page. Q: How many hours do I have to work before I am entitled to a meal break? A: Employees are entitled to a thirty minute uninterrupted meal break for all shifts over five hours. For more information on meal breaks please visit our meal break page. Q: If I am exempt under the outside sales exemption, does my employer have to reimburse me for my mileage? A: Yes. Just because you qualify under the outside sales exemption, that does not mean you are exempt from mileage reimbursement. For more information on exemptions please visit our exemption page. Q: If I qualify under the inside sales exemption does that mean I am exempt from receiving meal and rest breaks? A: No. Employees who qualify under the inside sales exemption are not exempt from the meal and rest breaks requirements. For more information on the sales exemption please visit our sales exemption link. Q: If I work over eight hours a day but less than forty hours a week am I still entitled to overtime pay? A: Yes. Overtime is defined as time worked over eight hours in one day OR forty hours in one week. For more information on overtime please visit out overtime page. Q: If my employer pays me with a pay card rather than a pay check do I have a claim? A: Maybe. Under California law, an employee must be able to cash their pay check without incurring a fee or experiencing a delay. There must also be a place where the employee can cash the check in California, and the name and address of that place must be on the face of the check. If you are paid by pay card, and cannot withdraw the entire amount of your paycheck using the pay card, the paycheck is not payable in cash on demand, if you have to pay a fee to receive your pay card, or if the pay card does not list the name and address of an established place of business, in California, where the pay card can be used, you may have a claim against your employer. For more information on pay cards or other check cashing fees please visit our check cashing fee page. Q: If I work in the tech industry, and I make over $75,000 a year to I automatically qualify for the computer programmer exemption? A: No. In addition to meeting the salary requirement, in order to qualify for the computer programmer exemption the employee must engage in certain exempt duties such as the application of system analysis techniques or the designing of hardware or software for computer operating systems. An employer cannot avail himself of the benefits of the computer programmer exemption simply by paying its employees a specific salary. For more information on the computer programmer exemption please visit our computer programmer exemption page. Q: If I qualify for the outside sales exemption does that mean my employer does not have to reimburse me for my mileage? A: No. Employees who qualify for the outside sales exemption are exempt from some labor code requirements but not all of them. An employer still has to reimburse an outside sales exempt employee for all mileage incurred for the employer’s benefit. For more information on the outside sales exemption please visit our outside sales exemption page. Q: If I travel as part of my job does my employer have to reimburse me for the mileage I use traveling to and from work? A: No. An employer does have to reimburse an employee for all mileage incurred for the employer’s benefit. However, this does not include the mileage to and from work. However, if an employee has to visit several customers throughout the day, the employee is entitled to reimbursement for the mileage incurred traveling from one customer to another. For more information on mileage reimbursement please visit our mileage reimbursement page. Q: If I am paid piece rate, am I still entitled to minimum wage? A: Yes. A piece rate employee is a non exempt employee. This means they are entitled to overtime, minimum wage, meal breaks, and rest breaks. Piece rate employees must be compensated at the minimum wage for all hours worked. For more information on piece rate please visit our piece rate page. |
At Kingsley & Kingsley, our Los Angeles based employment law
firm, our attorneys are committed to protecting the rights of ordinary
working people who have been exploited by big business. We have the
resources to take on large corporations, yet give our clients personal
service.