Retail establishments, restaurants and similar businesses often prioritize labor cost management. They pay workers the least amount that they can per hour, avoid hiring salaried workers to minimize benefit obligations, schedule workers for the lowest number of hours possible and fastidiously avoid overtime.
One of the ways companies avoid paying overtime is by paying managers and assistant managers on a salary basis. They may then demand that those salaried workers put in 50, 60 or even more hours per week to eliminate the need to have hourly workers on the clock for those additional hours. In some cases, this business maneuver could violate California’s overtime laws.
Not all managers are exempt from overtime rules
Simply receiving a salary does not automatically mean that a professional is truly exempt from overtime pay rules. Managers, in particular, are vulnerable to abuses of overtime exemptions despite receiving relatively low salaries.
California law requires that those exempted from overtime as salaried managers spend at least 50% of their work time performing tasks that differ from the job responsibilities of the workers they manage. If a company simply promotes a crew member and then demands that they engage in the same work as hourly employees, they may not be exempt employees.
If they spend more than half of their shifts stocking, running a cash register and handling customer service matters, they may not have significantly different job functions from hourly workers, and the company may not be able to justify claiming that they are exempt from overtime pay.
Reviewing work arrangements, salary amounts and time worked with a skilled legal team can help frustrated managers determine if they have a right to overtime pay. A wage claim can lead to underpaid managers securing compensation for the extra hours they worked without pay.