Exempt / Non Exempt Issues

Under California law, and employer may classify certain employees as "exempt" from overtime, i.e. they would be paid an annual salary regardless of how many hours a day or per week they work, and without being entitled to any over time pay, and meal / rest breaks. There are several, specific types of exemptions which a managerial employee might belong to, the most common of which is known as administrative exemption. The rest of the employees are considered "non exempt" and they must be paid hourly for every hour they work, including overtime (when working in excess of 8 hours a day or 40 hours per week).  

One of the more common types of wage claims brought by employees against their employers is a claim for misclassification (i.e. where an employer incorrectly classifies an hourly employee as exempt) and for failure to pay overtime.