By:  Shauna N. Correia

Under the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), employers are generally required to pay overtime wages to employees who work longer than 40 hours per week. The FLSA provides several exceptions to this rule. Those "employed in a bona fide executive, administrative, or professional capacity[,] . . . or in the capacity of outside salesman," for example, are exempt from the statute’s minimum wage and maximum hour requirements. Whether mortgage loan officers (who typically assist prospective borrowers in identifying and then applying for various mortgage offerings) qualify for this "administrative exemption" has been the subject of some debate, even within the Department of Labor.Continue Reading Mortgage Loan Officers Exempt? Don’t Take it to the Bank Just Yet

 By:   Meagan D. Christiansen

If you’ve attended any of our seminars revolving around wage and hour issues over the past year, you will undoubtedly remember our discussions of Harris v. Superior Court (Liberty Mutual), and the so-called “administrative/production worker dichotomy.” You may also remember an earlier post discussing the California Supreme Court’s ruling last January (which can be found here – https://www.thelelawblog.com/2012/01/articles/wage-and-hour/misclassfied-as-a-matter-of-law-not-so-fast-say-the-supremes/).Continue Reading Latest Court of Appeal Decision in Harris v. Superior Court (Liberty Mutual) Depublished, the Administrative/Production Worker Dichotomy Remains Uncertain

By:   Meagan D. Christiansen

California Labor Code sections 515.5 and 515.6 provide that certain computer software employees, as well as licensed physicians and surgeons, are exempt from state overtime requirements if they receive a minimum hourly, monthly, or yearly rate. Effective January 1, 2013, the following rates of pay are required for the employee to be exempt under California wage and hour law.Continue Reading 2013 Minimum Rates of Pay Announced for Exempt Computer Software, Physician and Surgeon Employees

By: Lizbeth V. West, Esq.

The Ninth Circuit has referred the Peabody v. Time Warner Cable case to the California Supreme Court to answer this question.

Under the commissioned salesperson exemption, or the “inside sales exemption” in Wage Orders 4 and 7 (ONLY) an employee is exempt from overtime if his or her earnings: 1) exceed one and one-half times the minimum wage; and 2) more than half of the employee’s compensation represents commissions. Under California’s minimum hourly wage of $8.00, an inside sales commissioned employee must earn at least $12.00 per hour to qualify for the exemption. Continue Reading “Inside Sales Exemption” – Are Commissions Calculated When Earned or When Paid?

The California Supreme Court recently addressed whether insurance claims adjusters qualify for the administrative exemption under California law. (Harris v. Superior Court (Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.).) The Court’s decision in late December 2011, focused on the issue of the “administrative/production worker dichotomy.” Here the Court was looking at whether employees who fall on the “production” side can ever qualify for the administrative exemption.
Continue Reading Misclassfied As A Matter of Law?: Not So Fast Say the Supremes!