Vivendi games unit sued in overtime dispute

[tufchic]

My two cents... The first thing when evaluating when someone has worked full time or not is if they fall under "exemption" status. Meaning they are 1) technical - with a degree of some kind and 2) have managerial duties like the ability to hire and fire and that is their primary capicity. Many labor lawsuits have come up in recent years concerning this type of employment misclassification.

The next question is what are the Federal rules. That's easy. More then 40 hours a week and you are entitled to overtime.

Then, are you working in the state of California. Your rule of thumb then is the first of which occurs: 1) more then 8 hours a day and/or 2) more then 40 hours a week.

So, let's say someone worked a 42 hour work week but lived in Minnesota. They would have to check their state Labor rules. But, let's say Federal only applies. Ok now, they get 2 hours at time and 1/2.

Say they are in California. Scenario they worked 7.5 hours one day, 9.5 the next and 8 hours per every day for the weekly 7 day pay period. They would have worked 41 hours. They get overtime for the 1.5 of the 9.5 hour day. Docked 1/2 hour on the 7.5 hour day provided no hourly sick leave and paid time and 1/2 for the 1.5 hours of overtime on the 9.5 hour day. California only gets confusing because of this "daily" overtime rule.

In a Federal only, they just get 1 hour of overtime for the 1 extra hour worked for the week.

It's not really confusing if you apply the daily rule to the day and then the weekly rule to the weekly overall total. Generally, the daily rule always triggers the overtime in California rules.

Also, salaried employees are not exempt from overtime just because they are salaried. Only the professional class such as those with an actual degree i.e. doctor, lawyer, teacher, and/or engineer are exempt.

Always check with a labor law attorney BEFORE misclassifying an employee. Being your own attorney, makes one a fool for a client. The California Department of Labor will always err on the side of the employee in this situation and grant the back pay. You also open yourself up to lawsuits. By the time you pay for the lawyer to defend such a suit, you would have been ahead of the game by just paying the overtime in the first place.