A recently changed law requires California piece rate employers to pay workers for rest and recovery periods, as well as other “non-productive time”.  There are specific requirements for how hours and pay for rest and recovery periods and non-productive time will be recorded and reflected on a worker’s pay stub.  Non-productive time pay rates must meet or exceed San Diego’s minimum wage requirement of $14.00 per hour.

It is also important to ensure the proper payment of overtime.  The labor laws of California specify overtime wages to be time-and-a-half or twice the employee’s regular rate of pay depending upon the number of overtime hours worked and consecutive days.

California piece rate employers may have a substantial financial and legal exposure for the non-payment of wages for rest and recovery periods and non-productive time for a look-back period of several years.  Those employers who are concerned that they have not adequately paid their piece-rate work force for non-productive time or rest and recovery periods should contact the experienced wage and hour attorneys at the Watkins Firm for a free and substantive consultation at 858-535-1511.

The calculation of wage and hour rates has become increasingly difficult in California, and the amount of information that is required on a pay stub is constantly expanding.  San Diego piece rate employers face a substantial financial exposure for back pay, unpaid rest and recovery, unpaid or under-paid non-productive time as well as penalties, interest and back taxes.

The employer defense attorneys at the Watkins Firm have more than four decades of experience and service to California employers.  We focus on protecting  employers and work to keep our clients up to date in every aspect of labor, wage and hour, employment contracts and associated handbooks and manuals.  We help to ensure that all labor practices, pay strategies and policies and procedures provide the greatest amount of protection possible to prevent employment related litigation.

Pro-Tip: “Private attorneys General Act is another one of those things all employers should be aware of, but especially piece rate employers. I don’t know that most smaller employers would be aware of it, but this has become a major issue over the last couple of years.  It’s a law that allows attorneys, terrible plaintiff’s lawyers from the dark side to file class actions more easily against employers. So if you’re a California employer and you have a problem with one employee and their paycheck and they go to the wrong lawyer and he says, let’s file an action, not just on behalf of one employee but on behalf of all employees because this is a representation of how terrible this company treats all of its employees because they made a mistake on a paycheck.

And that piece rate employee (or hourly employee), in effect, steps into the shoes of the attorney general. There’s immense power to go after previous employees records, current employees. That opens the door to a lot of exposure. The good news: And judges hate it!  The good news is most judges are sick of these. If you tell us as a California employer that you have a problem with a given employee, we can look at it quickly and guide you in what to say and then diagnose any other problems you may have, and before anyone can turn it into a class action, you spend very little money, you’ve fixed a problem, and there’s nowhere to go. You’ve shut a door.

That’s what I prefer. I prefer crushing the hopes and dreams of plaintiff’s counsel, and if you give me the tools and you get to us soon enough, then we get to do that. When that letter comes and we’re sitting there just waiting for them to say the wrong thing or waiting to hammer them and beat them to the punch. And if you’ve talked to us early, that’s what we get to do most of the time. And we want you to keep you out of any form of exposure to litigation, so you’re making money during the day, and sleeping well at night.” – Dan Watkins, Founding Partner

We invite you to review our podcast Episode 39 – What Keeps Employers Up at Night as well as the strong recommendations of our clients and contact the Watkins Firm or call 858-535-1511 for a complimentary consultation today.