Illustrative scenario: Working 50+ Hours, No Overtime Pay

Working 50+ hours a week, employer refuses overtime pay - says I'm "salaried exempt" but I don't think that's right

I publish illustrative scenarios prepared by my practice. All participants and conversations are fictional. The fictional posts are not posts by real users, accounts of client experiences, or reports of actual results.

Illustrative scenario prepared by my practice.

For informational purposes only. Employment law is complex and fact-specific. California has additional protections beyond federal law.

Hypothetical question

Sorry for the wall of text. I work as an "Operations Coordinator" at a logistics company in Orange County. My employer has me classified as salaried exempt, so they don't pay overtime. I regularly work 50-60 hours per week.

My salary is $52,000/year. My actual job is mostly data entry, scheduling shipments, and answering phones. I don't supervise anyone and don't make any real decisions - everything has to be approved by my manager.

Is this legal? I've been here 2 years and probably have hundreds of hours of unpaid overtime. I'm afraid to bring it up because I need this job, but it doesn't seem right.

TL;DR

The top concern in this thread: California overtime misclassification - employers labeling non-exempt workers as "salaried exempt" to avoid paying overtime under Labor Code 510.

DLSE vs Private Attorney: Community consensus is DLSE is free but slow (6-12 months typical). Private attorneys work on contingency and can pursue PAGA claims for larger recoveries, especially when multiple employees are affected.
Statute of Limitations: 3 years under LC 1194 for unpaid wages, 4 years under California's Unfair Competition Law (Bus. & Prof. Code 17200).
Documentation: Keep personal records of hours worked (app or notebook), save emails showing after-hours work, preserve job descriptions and offer letters. Don't rely solely on company time systems.

Pro tip from the comments: California requires BOTH the salary test (~$66,560/year for 2025) AND the duties test. Even if salary is met, doing primarily non-exempt work (data entry, scheduling, customer service) means you should be non-exempt. Job titles don't matter - actual duties do.

Illustrative response

Just filed a wage claim with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) for unpaid overtime and wanted to share the process for anyone considering it. My employer had been classifying me as exempt under the administrative exemption even though I spent over 60% of my time doing non-exempt duties like stocking shelves and operating the register.

Under California Labor Code Section 510, non-exempt employees are entitled to 1.5x their regular rate for hours worked over 8 in a day or 40 in a week, and 2x for hours over 12 in a day. California is stricter than federal law (FLSA) because it uses a daily overtime threshold, not just weekly. This meant I was owed overtime for every day I worked a 9 or 10-hour shift, even if my weekly total was under 40 hours.

Key lesson: track your hours yourself, even if your employer does not require it. Those personal records were the single most important piece of evidence in my case. Use a simple app or even just a notes file on your phone with date, time in, time out, and a brief description of what you did that day.

Working 50+ hours a week, employer refuses overtime pay - says I'm "salaried exempt" but I don't think that's right

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