Work Hour Laws in California
An assortment of California and Federal laws explain how working hours of employees should be counted and recorded. These hours might at times include activities such as education, training and travel time. The mistake that is commonly done by most employers is failing to pay the necessary overtime premiums.
Defining Work Schedules
When it comes to working hours it is always important to properly define workweeks and workdays. There are even laws which govern the “seventh-day” rule. There are also limitations for hours of work and these hours are clearly defined by both the state and federal work hours laws.
In case one gets confused by the two set of laws one can get the necessary help from HR California. There are also laws regulating the meal periods and rest breaks. Furthermore, the work hours also clearly state that employers need to pay piece rate workers for recovery and rest periods. There is a minimum hourly rate that is set by the laws and this does not include the compensation for piece rate.
Training Pay
In California employers also need to communicate to the employees in advance about the rates for special circumstances such as travel. This non-working time is required to be paid to the employees according to what the employers had communicated in advance. There are special circumstances which require employers to pay the employees while they are traveling.
When employees are attending work-related events such as work courses, training programs and employees meetings the employer is required to count the hours spent as hours that the employees were working. Consequently, the employees will be paid using the same rates as they would have been paid if they were working.
Makeup Time
Employers can also allow their employees to get makeup time. This is the time that employees request to work more to compensate the hours they did not work because they had personal commitments. According to work hour rules in California, the employers are not obligated to provide the makeup time but the can allow it if they want to. The private employers are on the other hand prohibited from offering compensatory time off and this is in line with the paying of overtime wages.
It is also important to keep records of the time employees have worked and the compensation. Since some industries have special needs, there are certain exceptions when it comes to recording working hours of the employees. The work hours laws also stimulate the minimum hours that minors can be allowed to work. This mainly depends on the age of the workers, the season of the year and the industry the minor is working on. There are exceptions which usually allow the working hours of minors to be extended but they only apply in special circumstances.
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