Employee misclassification occurs when an employee is classified as an “exempt” employee under federal and California overtime laws.  This has the effect of denying overtime, meal, and rest payments owed to the misclassified employee.

In order to be classified as “exempt”, the employee must meet the following criteria:

• Salary Test: An exempt employee must earn a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment.

• Duties Test: An exempt employee must spend most of his or her work time (over 50%) engaged in “exempt duties” which include, but are not limited to:

  • Administrative Duties, which include the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to management policies or general business operations of his or her employer or his or her employer’s customers;

  • Executive Duties, which include management of the enterprise or of a customarily recognized department or subdivision;

  • Professional Duties, which include duties requiring advanced knowledge in a particular field that requires a specialized education;

  • Artistic/Creative Duties, which includes original and creative work in an artistic endeavor.

Misclassification typically occurs where an employee is classified as an exempt employee and given a fancy job title, but the employee spends most of their time performing “non-exempt” tasks including but not limited to: sales work, customer service, manual labor, etc.  These are just some examples of the types of scenarios that lead to a claim of misclassification under California law.  Others exist.

If you believe that you were wrongfully misclassified as an exempt employee under California law, and you have not received overtime wages that you believe you are entitled to, contact us for a free case evaluation.