You clock out at 5:00 p.m.
At 5:10, your supervisor asks you to finish one last task. Later that evening, you answer a few work emails. The next morning, you arrive early to prepare for the day before clocking in.
None of these tasks may take very long. But they have something important in common: you are still working.
For many nonexempt California employees, employers must pay for all compensable time worked. And when that additional time pushes an employee beyond California’s overtime thresholds, the employee may also be entitled to overtime pay.
When Are California Employees Entitled to Overtime?
California’s overtime rules provide greater protections than many employees realize.
In general, nonexempt employees are entitled to one-and-a-half times their regular rate of pay for:
- Hours worked beyond eight in a workday;
- Hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek; and
- The first eight hours worked on the seventh consecutive day of work in a workweek.
Employees generally are entitled to double their regular rate of pay for hours worked beyond 12 in a workday and beyond eight hours on the seventh consecutive workday in a workweek.
There are exemptions and alternative workweek rules that can change these requirements, so not every employee or schedule is treated the same way.
But for many California employees, the basic rule is important: overtime can be calculated by the day, not just by the week.
What Is Off-the-Clock Work?
Off-the-clock work is work performed without the time being properly recorded and paid.
Sometimes it is obvious. A supervisor tells an employee to clock out and then asks them to keep working.
Other times, it looks much more ordinary.
Suppose you’re home on your day off and your supervisor texts you with a “quick question.” You answer it. Then comes a follow-up question. You check an email, look up a record, or explain what happened with a client the day before.
You never went into the office. You may not have even gotten off the couch.
But you were still performing work for your employer.
Off-the-clock work can include:
- Preparing equipment or opening a workplace before clocking in;
- Finishing paperwork or closing tasks after clocking out;
- Answering work-related calls, texts, or emails outside scheduled hours;
- Completing administrative tasks from home;
- Working during an unpaid meal period; or
- Logging into work systems to complete tasks during personal time.
The setting is not necessarily what determines whether the time counts as work. California defines “hours worked” broadly to include time an employee is under an employer’s control as well as time the employee is suffered or permitted to work.
What if Your Employer Says the Overtime Wasn’t Authorized?
Your employer may have a policy requiring employees to obtain permission before working overtime.
That does not necessarily mean the employer can refuse to pay you for overtime you actually worked.
California requires employers to pay for unauthorized overtime when the employer knew or should have known the work was being performed.
An employer may be able to discipline an employee for violating a workplace rule requiring advance approval for overtime. But “you weren’t supposed to work those hours” and “we don’t have to pay you for those hours” are two different things.
If the employer allowed the work to be performed and knew or should have known about it, the employee generally must be compensated for the time.
Can a Few Minutes Really Count?
Small amounts of unpaid work can be easy to overlook.
Suppose you spend ten unpaid minutes finishing work at the end of each shift. If you work five shifts a week, that becomes more than 43 hours over the course of a year.
Those minutes may also affect overtime.
For example, if a nonexempt employee has already worked eight hours in a California workday, additional compensable work that day may need to be paid at an overtime rate.
That is why accurate timekeeping matters. A few minutes disappearing from one shift may look insignificant. A recurring practice can produce a much larger amount of unpaid time.
What Should You Do if You Think You’re Working Off the Clock?
Start by comparing the hours for which you were paid with the time you actually worked.
If possible, preserve:
- Paystubs and wage statements;
- Clock-in and clock-out records;
- Work schedules;
- Emails, texts, or other communications sent outside recorded work hours;
- Records showing when you logged into work systems; and
- Your own contemporaneous notes about work you performed outside recorded hours.
Look for patterns rather than focusing only on one unusual day.
Do you regularly receive work messages after clocking out? Does your supervisor know you arrive early to prepare for your shift? Are you expected to finish tasks after your recorded workday ends?
Those details can help show whether unpaid work is an occasional mistake or part of a recurring workplace practice.
When Work Follows You Off the Clock
Work does not necessarily stop being work because you have left the workplace.
For nonexempt California employees, time spent performing required or permitted work may be compensable even when it happens before a scheduled shift, after clocking out, at home, or through a phone or computer.
And when those unpaid minutes push an employee beyond California’s daily or weekly overtime limits, the missing wages may include overtime compensation as well.
If you believe you have performed unpaid overtime or other off-the-clock work, an experienced Orange County, CA employment attorney can review your time records, paystubs, and workplace practices and help you understand what wages may be owed.