I work as an "Assistant Manager" at a retail chain in California making $55K salary. I regularly work 55-60 hours per week. No overtime pay because they say I'm exempt/salaried.
But most of my work is stocking shelves, running the register, and cleaning. I barely manage anyone — there are 2 part-time employees who technically report to me but I don't hire, fire, or evaluate them. My manager makes all those decisions.
Am I actually exempt from overtime?
Almost certainly not. In California, to be exempt under the executive exemption, you must:
You fail on multiple counts: you're under the salary threshold ($55K < $66,560), you spend most of your time on non-exempt duties (stocking, register, cleaning), and you don't have real hiring/firing authority. This is textbook misclassification.
This is incredibly common in retail. Companies give people a "manager" title to avoid paying OT. It's one of the most litigated wage issues in California.
How far back can I claim? I've been in this role for 3 years.
In California, wage claims go back 3 years under the Labor Code (4 years under UCL Business & Professions Code 17200). So you can potentially recover 3 years of unpaid overtime.
Quick math: if you averaged 15 hours of OT per week at $55K salary (roughly $26.44/hr regular, $39.66/hr OT rate), that's ~$594/week in unpaid OT. Over 3 years: ~$92,000. Plus waiting time penalties, interest, and attorney fees.
I was in the exact same position at a different chain. Filed a wage claim with the DLSE. After mediation they settled for $68K covering 2.5 years of unpaid overtime plus penalties. The whole process took about 8 months.
The 50% rule in California is key. If you spend more than half your time doing the same work as non-exempt employees, you're not exempt regardless of your title. Keep a time log for 2-3 weeks documenting what you actually do hour by hour. That's your evidence.
Same thing at my job but I'm making $62K. Still under the CA threshold. My attorney says there might be a class action since our company has hundreds of "assistant managers" doing the same non-exempt work statewide. Anyone else at [redacted] chain experiencing this?
Class actions (or PAGA representative actions in CA) are very common for this type of misclassification. If the company has a uniform policy of classifying assistant managers as exempt without proper analysis, every assistant manager in the state has the same claim. PAGA penalties alone can be substantial.
Update: Filed a complaint with the California Labor Commissioner. Also consulted with an employment attorney who is evaluating whether to pursue a PAGA claim. Started keeping a daily time log. Thanks for the push — $92K in potential unpaid OT is not something to leave on the table.
I work in HR compliance for a mid-size retail chain and I want to give the employer-side perspective here, because this misclassification issue is more widespread than most people realize and many employers genuinely do not understand the rules.
When I joined my current company, we had over 200 "assistant managers" classified as exempt. After conducting a proper audit with outside counsel, we reclassified 180 of them as non-exempt. The company ended up paying out approximately 2.3 million dollars in back overtime to settle potential claims before anyone filed suit. That was actually the smart move -- fighting it in court or through PAGA would have cost significantly more.
The key test that most retail employers get wrong is the "primarily engaged in" standard under California Labor Code Section 515(a). California uses a quantitative test -- if you spend more than 50 percent of your time on non-exempt duties, you are non-exempt. Period. The federal FLSA uses a more flexible "primary duty" test that looks at the overall character of the job, but in California the stricter standard applies.
Red flags that almost always indicate misclassification in retail:
@overworked_salaried_55K -- your situation is clear-cut. At 55K in California, you are below the salary threshold alone, which means you cannot be exempt regardless of your duties. But even if you made above the threshold, your actual job duties as described would fail the executive exemption test. Document your daily activities for at least two weeks and consult an employment attorney. Many take these cases on contingency because the law is so strongly in the employee's favor.