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Did you know that thanks to California employment law and the backing of the current Governor, California will have the highest hourly rate of pay in the USA starting January 1, 2008? California employment law will then dictate that a worker’s minimum wage will be $8.00 an hour, up from $7.50 an hour.

An added plus is that meal and lodging credits rose by a similar percentage for those workers receiving them from their employers. On the downside, these credits can be included when calculating the minimum wage payable by employers.

Bad luck if you are a federal employee who works outside California’s state lines. The increases do not apply to you and you remain at $5.15 per hour. Time to get a job in California!

The area of overtime under California employment law is somewhat problematical and is currently the subject of intense debate. The employment law in California separates workers into two classes - those who are non-exempt and those who are exempt.

If an employee entitled to overtime is treated as exempt, they could be eligible to a nice chunk of change for overtime pay once the dust settles.

Non-exempt workers do gain a certain level of protection though when compared to exempt workers. Their employers are subject to all the pay rules and regulations set up by the Industrial Welfare Commission, including overtime pay. This means that all non-exempt employees must be paid for all overtime hours worked.

If you are an employer and are not sure into which category your workers fall, then check out the California employment law codes and regulations. Alternatively you can call the Department of Labor for advice.

In general to be an exempt employee it would depend on the level of responsibility they have, or their professional status. This doesn’t have anything to do with their job title, or whether or not they get a salary or and hourly wage.

Licensed professionals such as architects, doctors, lawyers, certified public accountants and engineers tend to be classed as exempt as are those in middle management who have the appropriate responsibilities. The responsibilities would include the ability to hire and fire, train employees and who spend less than 50 percent of their time performing the same duties as their employees.

Two other categories that are considered to be exempt are travelling sales representatives and those who create or formulate business policies for their organizations. Again, if you have any questions about exempt versus non-exempt employees and how to make sure they are paid according to the law, check with the nearest Department of Labor office.

Tags: Career