Employees in California are protected by some of the most vigorous overtime pay laws among all 50 states. The most significant distinction between California overtime laws and federal overtime laws is that under California overtime law , non exempt Employees are paid one and a half times the hourly wage when working in excess of 8 hours in a day or when working over 40 hours in a week. The federal law only provides overtime when working in excess of 40 hours per week. California overtime laws also provide protections in regard to double time pay to non exempt Employees who work in excess of 12 hours in a day, meal and break requirements, waiting time penalties for unpaid wages and other benefits.

California Courts Are Favorable to Employees:

A) The Employer has the Burden of Proof by creating a timely record of all hours worked
The Employer must maintain detailed accurate records of all the hours worked by each Employee under Labor Code § 1174. If this is not done, then estimates presented by the Employee will be accepted as proof of the hours worked and the burden of proof shifts to the Employer to disprove the Employees claim . Anderson v. Mt. Clemens Pottery Co. , (1945) 328 U.S. 680.

B) Presumptions are in the Employee's favor
The law presumes that the Employee is entitled to be paid overtime and the Employer has the burden proving that the Employee is exempt under the law Nordquist v. McGraw-Hill Broadcasting Company (1995) 32 Cal.App.4th 555, 562.

C) Employee's right to recover attorney's fees, costs and penalties
The law provides that an Employee is entitled to recover all of his costs and attorney fees if he/she prevails on any part of his/her claim Labor Code §1194. In addition, he/she is entitled to recover interest under Labor Code § 1194 & §98.1(c) and penalties Labor Code § 203 & §226. The opposite is true for the Employer. The Employer is not permitted to recover his/her attorney fees regardless of the outcome.

As you can see, the courts weigh heavily in favor of the Employee, when it comes to California overtime pay requirements.