Minimum Salary Threshold
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Minimum Salary Threshold
I am currently a salaried employee in California, and have been for a few years now. My current gross salary is $26,880. I have recently learned about California’s ‘Salary Threshold’ which, as I understand it is around $41,600. Is my employer breaking the law paying me much less than the salary threshold? What should I do, if so?
Asked on October 10, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Your state's "salary threshhold" is the threshhold for a salaried employee to be exempt from overtime under California law. You can be paid less than it--it is not a restriction on what you may be paid. However, if you are paid less than the state threshhold, then you are not exempt from overtime under state law: if you work more than 40 hours in a week, or more than 8 hours in a day, you must be paid an overtime premium (extra pay) for all hours past 40/week or 8/day. This premium is equal to 50% of your effective hourly rate, or what you'd earn per hour if your pay were calculated on an hourly basis. So you may be owed back overtime, as well as overtime going forward. If you believe you should have been paid overtime but were not, contact your state's department of labor.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.