California Labor Laws most Common Violations
California is one of the most employee friendly states in which to work. Our labor laws are meant to protect the employee and keep the employers on the right track. Sometimes employees are over whelmed or worried that they won’t know how to prove that their employer is not following the rules. It’s important to not give up or continue to let your employer mistreat you. In California the burden of proof is on the employer. This means that it is the employer’s job to prove that they are following California labor law. The following issues are commonly accepted by employees because they are under the misconception that they would not have ample proof to show what their employer is doing to them:
Working Off the Clock
This violation is very common; employees often think they are “volunteering” to work off the clock because no one has specifically told them to do so. However, upon further investigation, it is found that the employee is under a tremendous amount of pressure to perform and not enough time in the day to complete the work that has been assigned. This becomes equally evident that it is a corporate culture when we see that all the hourly employees in this position are doing the same thing for fear of losing their jobs. The unfortunate part is that the employees either think that this is just what they have to do to have a job, or that even if they were willing to say something they wouldn’t know how to prove their time, since after all, they weren’t clocked in.
Misclassified as a Salaried Employee
Are you a manager or a supervisor? Do you believe that because you hold this title you are NOT entitled to overtime? Would you be surprised to learn that this isn’t always the case? Often times companies will give the employee the impression that their job title defines how they will be classified, as either salary (exempt) or hourly (non-exempt). This is not what California labor law had in mind. There are various exemptions defined by California labor law but all of them have something in common. The exemptions are all defined by WHAT the employee is doing, not the title the employee holds. Also, companies will sometimes give the employee a job description that would be classified as exempt if that was actually what the employee was doing. More often than not, the employee will spend his or her time doing a much different set of tasks than outlined on the company given job description. California law is only concerned with what is actually happening, not what the company would like to pretend is happening.
Labor law is complex and if you have any questions regarding your employment it is recommended that you contact aCalifornia labor law attorney who can help you understand your rights and in many cases will review your situation without charge.
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