
Is an employer obligated to pay for unauthorized overtime?
Yes. According to California law, overtime must be paid regardless of whether an employee gets advanced authorization to work overtime. There is an exception, however. If your employer requires you to get authorization before working overtime AND you work overtime without your employer’s knowledge, then the employer probably does not have to pay you the overtime.
If an employee violates company policy regarding overtime without authorization it is within the employer’s rights to discipline the employee. Even still the law requires that the employee be paid for overtime hours worked that the employer either knew or should have known about. An employee cannot deliberately keep the employer from knowing about overtime hours worked and then demand compensation afterwards.
As a reminder, California overtime is pay at one and one-half times your regular rate of pay for any work done past eight hours and up to twelve in one workday, also for the first eight hours of work on the seventh consecutive day in a workweek. If an employee works past twelve hours in one workday or past eight on the seventh consecutive day they must be compensated at twice the regular rate.
Our Notable Class Action Cases
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Ayala v. Terminix International, Inc.
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Bankwitz v. Ecolab Inc. - Territory Manager Overtime Lawsuit
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Bautista v. Alliance Environmental Group
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Berry v. DCOR, LLC
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Bognuda v. Great White Dental
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Campos v. Ecolab Inc. – California Route Sales Manager (RSM) Lawsuit
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Candete v. Cummins Transportation
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Cooper v. Ecolab Inc.
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Derousseau v. Schlumberger Technology Corporation
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Dietz v. Ecolab Inc.

What Makes Strauss & Strauss APC Different
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We Don't Give Up
If we don't get a favorable ruling the first time around, we work hard to appeal cases to ensure we do everything we can for your case.
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We Exclusively Represent Employees
We fight on behalf of employees only and are not afraid of going up against the largest corporations in the country, if not the world.
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We Think Outside of the Box
Our seasoned team of attorneys come up with innovative solutions unheard of in the past in order to advance their cases in court.
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Over $100 Million Recovered
In the last decade, Strauss & Strauss APC has recovered over $100 million dollars for employees in California.
