The California Industrial Welfare Commission has finalized the draft Interim Wage Order we reported on in February. The order takes effect March 1, 2000, and contains important new steps for complying with the overtime requirements of A.B. 60, including changes in how you pay certain exempt employees and a new posting rule.
The HR Management & Compliance Report: How To Comply with California Wage & Hour Law, explains everything you need to know to stay in compliance with the state’s complex and ever-changing rules, laws, and regulations in this area. Coverage on bonuses, meal and rest breaks, overtime, alternative workweeks, final paychecks, and more.
Minimum Salary
The IWC has clarified how the new minimum monthly salary of $1,993.33 for exempt workers applies to various categories of employees:
- Part-time workers. Employees who work part time have to receive the full monthly minimum salary, without proration, to be exempt.
- Licensed professionals. Previously, some professional employees could be exempt from overtime even if they were paid by the hour. Now all professional employees have to be paid overtime unless they receive the minimum monthly salary. Also, pharmacists must now be paid overtime unless they qualify for the managerial or administrative exemption.
- Computer professionals. To be exempt, these employees can no longer be paid hourly. Instead, they have to receive the minimum monthly salary and must, as in the past, qualify as “learned professional” employees.
Seventh Day Of Work
The IWC clarified that time and a half is due for the first 8 hours worked (and double time thereafter) on the seventh consecutive day an employee works in a workweek. This is true even if the employee worked part time on each of the prior six days.
Advance Requests For Make-Up Time
A nonexempt employee who will need time off for a personal obligation that will recur at a fixed time over a succession of weeks can submit a single written request for making up time on multiple days. But the request cannot be made more than four weeks in advance. There’s no limit on how far ahead an employee can put in requests for make-up time for a single event. Also, although you can’t encourage or solicit make-up time requests, you can inform employees of the make-up time option.
Alternative Workweeks
The IWC spelled out the following points regarding alternative workweeks:
- Deadline for approving voluntary alternative workweeks. An employee who voluntarily worked an alternative workweek of no more than 10 hours a day as of July 1, 1999, under Wage Orders 1, 4, 5, 7 or 9, can continue to do so if you approve their written request by May 30, 2000. The employee can revoke their alternative schedule with 30 days’ written notice to you.
- Menu of work schedule options. If you propose a menu of schedule options, employees may, with your approval, move to another option.
- Routine overtime. You can regularly require an employee to work more than the number of hours established by an alternative workweek schedule, as long as you pay the appropriate overtime.
- Overtime for employees whose hours are cut. If you have an alternative workweek schedule, but require an employee to work reduced hours on a particular day, the person is entitled to overtime pay for any time worked over eight hours on that day.
- Repealing alternative workweeks. Employees who want to terminate an alternative workweek schedule that was in effect on January 1, 2000, can begin the process if one-third of those affected petition for an election. A secret election must then be held with a two-thirds vote to repeal the alternative workweek schedule. Barring undue hardship, you have 60 days to comply. To repeal schedules implemented after January 1, 2000, the current wage order rules apply.
New Posting Requirement
The Interim Wage Order must be posted next to the current version of your industry or occupational wage order. Employers covered by Wage Order 14 (Agricultural Occupations) have to post only Section 10 of the Interim Order.