Unpaid Overtime Attorney

California has stricter overtime rules than federal law. Under Labor Code § 510, employers must pay 1.5x the regular rate for hours over 8 in a day or 40 in a week, and 2x the regular rate for hours over 12 in a day or over 8 on the seventh consecutive workday. The regular rate must include most forms of compensation, not just base hourly pay.

New York follows the federal FLSA standard: overtime at 1.5x the regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. Unlike California, NY does not require daily overtime. However, NY has specific overtime rules for certain industries — hospitality workers, for example, must be paid overtime after 40 hours and may be entitled to spread-of-hours pay for workdays exceeding 10 hours.

Many employees are incorrectly classified as exempt. In California, the salary threshold for exemption is twice the state minimum wage for full-time employment. The employee must also spend more than 50% of their time on exempt duties (executive, administrative, or professional). In NY, similar salary and duties tests apply. Job title alone does not determine exemption status.

In California, you can recover unpaid overtime for 3 years (4 years under the Unfair Competition Law, Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200). In New York, the statute of limitations is 6 years under NY Labor Law. Both states allow recovery of liquidated damages (double the unpaid wages in NY, and waiting time penalties in CA), plus interest and attorneys' fees.