Q: In an unpaid overtime case, when your law firm successfully gets an exempt employee properly reclassified as non-exempt, can what the employee recovers from their employer in terms of unpaid overtime and other damages be substantial? They can be. The size of the recovery largely depends on how many hours of overtime the employee […]
Misclassified Exempt Employees and Unpaid Overtime
Q: If an employee is classified as exempt and working over 40 hours per week, how would your law firm make the argument that they are entitled to overtime? A: The first consideration we take into account is how much the employee is getting paid. One of the requirements to being exempt in California is […]
Is there ever an instance where it is better to be an independent contractor than an employee?
It really depends on the circumstances of the particular person, but I could envision a scenario where it might be more beneficial to be an independent contractor. If you have significant business expenses that you otherwise would not be able to deduct from your taxes if you were classified as an employee, working as an […]
Misclassified Employees
Q: An employee comes into you, has been characterized as an independent contractor for years. How can you help that person? A: There are a lot of factors to be considered such as: How are you paid? Is there a written contract? What does the contract say? And as for the contract, it may be […]
Types of Employee Classification
The basic classification is “non-exempt.” California law presumes that all employees are non-exempt employees, meaning that they are not exempt from the Labor Code and Wage Order requirements, such as overtime pay, meal and rest breaks, and minimum wage. Usually, non-exempt employees are paid by the hour. The other classification is “exempt.” Exempt employees are […]
The importance of proper employee classification
Why is it important that I be properly classified by my employer? When working for a company, you may be classified and “exempt” or “non-exempt” or the company may treat you as an “independent contractor.” There are several reasons why proper classification is important, both on the employer’s side and on the employee’s side. On […]
What is an “independent contractor”?
An independent contractor is another kind of classification and not necessarily an employee classification. Many employers try to classify people incorrectly as independent contractors because they don’t have to pay the employer’s share of various employment taxes, keep track of hours, breaks nor do they have to provide other common employee benefits such as health […]