Computer IT Tech Workers Overtime Pay Lawyer
When an IT worker realizes that they may not be getting paid all they are owed, they should turn to a computer IT tech workers overtime pay attorney for legal advice, support, and guidance. IT professionals work long and arduous hours, some for large companies that, too often, do not value their employees as they should.
Both federal and state laws protect IT professionals from being taken advantage of and underpaid in California and throughout the United States. That doesn’t stop employers from underpaying IT professionals and avoiding paying them the overtime wages they are rightfully owed.
Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers has extensive experience in representing workers who are taken advantage of by their employers. We understand the difficulties of not being paid fairly for the work you have performed. Furthermore, our attorneys have represented countless successful employment law cases in which our clients prevailed in securing the overtime they were rightfully owed.
Our firm’s focus is on employment law, primarily, and our attorneys are familiar with all California and federal employment laws. We can work tirelessly to prove that your workers’ rights were violated and to hold your employer accountable for their wrongdoing.
Federal Overtime Laws
In the US, the Fair Labor Standards Act establishes the basic wage requirements for workers, including the number of hours workers can be expected to work. This federal law is the minimum, and states are free to enact additional laws to expand the rights of workers. Most hourly workers in the US are entitled to overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours in a week.
Once a worker works over 40 hours, they are working “overtime” and are entitled to 1.5 times their hourly rate for any hours in excess of 40 hours worked in one seven-day work week. Furthermore, the law explains that employers cannot average hours across multiple weeks in order to reduce the total number of hours worked per week. However, employers still find ways to avoid paying overtime.
The state of California has strict employment and overtime laws, protecting workers’ rights more so than other states. In California, workers who work more than eight hours in one day or more than six days consecutively in a week are also entitled to overtime. Those who work over 12 hours in one day are entitled to two times their normal pay rate.
While the schemes enacted by employers to avoid overtime pay are typically similar across many industries, IT professionals are specifically vulnerable to the hardships of unfair pay. The demanding job of an IT worker requires them to work long days and extensive hours.
Nevertheless, many are told by their employers that they do not qualify for overtime wages. However, this is not true in most cases, as the required tasks performed by IT professionals often do not meet the conditions necessary to exempt them from overtime pay.
What Is the Difference Between an Employee and an Independent Contractor?
Employers may use any type of excuse they can come up with to avoid paying IT professionals overtime and deem them independent contractors, but the roles of an independent contractor are much different. The list of conditions below classifies workers as employees rather than independent contractors.
- An employee works directly for the company.
- The company directs and controls the work of an employee.
- An employee’s company provides them with the tools necessary to perform their job.
- An employee has set earnings indicated by the company.
- An employee provides services that line up with the business of the industry in which the company operates.
- An employee does not invest money into their business to perform their work, whereas an independent contractor must invest their own funding into their ability to perform work to some degree.
- An employee has a traditional employer-employee relationship at the company where they work, and the assumed nature of that relationship is ongoing, indefinite, and does not foresee an end once a project is complete or a job is finished.
Roles in the IT Field
What many employers and employees fail to realize is that just because a worker is paid a salary doesn’t mean they are exempt from overtime hours. In many cases, an employer will wrongly claim their worker is exempt from overtime pay when, in fact, they are not. Consider the wage requirements for the following positions in the IT field.
Computer Professionals
These employees must be paid a salary at a rate of at least $684 per week or a rate of no less than $27.63 per hour to be legally exempt from overtime pay. Furthermore, for a worker to be exempt from overtime wages, they must be employed as a computer programmer, a computer and systems analyst, a software engineer, or another skilled worker in the field of computers performing the primary job duties listed here:
- Applications of systems analysis techniques and procedures that involve communicating with users, determining hardware and software systems, and computer system specifications
- Designing, developing, documenting, creating, testing, analyzing, or modifying computer programs or systems, including prototypes based on system design specifications or user design specifications
- Designing, documenting, testing, creating, or modifying computer programs related to machine operating systems
- A combination of these duties mentioned above or the performance of something that requires the same level of knowledge and skills
Executives
These employees must be paid a salary of no less than $684 per week, and the employee’s primary job duties must involve managing business enterprises, customarily recognized departments, or subdivisions of a business. They must also regularly direct the work of at least two additional full-time employees or the equivalent. They should also have the authority to hire, fire, promote, demote, or advance other employees or have a significantly weighted say in these objectives for other employees.
Administrative Professional
Administrative professionals must also make a salary rate of $684 or more per week. Their primary duties must be performing office or non-manual work that is related directly to the management of the general business operations of the company or the company’s customers. Their primary duties must involve exercising discretion over matters of significance, indicating the consequential significance of their work to the company.
Learned Professional
These employees must also be paid a salary of no less than $684 per week. Their primary job duties must require advanced knowledge, and their work must be of a predominantly intellectual nature and require consistent exercise of judgment and discretion. Their advanced knowledge must be acquired through extensive coursework in their specific intellectual field.
Most IT jobs do not meet the criteria to be labeled as an IT engineer or architect, which would exempt them from eligibility for overtime wages. Anyone in the field of IT who has a question regarding the way their wages are handled by their employer is urged to speak with a computer IT tech workers overtime pay attorney in San Diego, California. A skilled lawyer can help them discern whether they are, in fact, eligible for overtime wages.
California’s Overtime Laws
California overtime exemption requirements are difficult to meet for a reason. They allow more workers to have the right to overtime pay than those of other states. Newly enacted laws in California require computer professionals to be paid an annual salary of at least $115,763.35, $9,646.96 per month, or $55.58 per hour to be exempt from overtime. These rates are significantly higher than federal rates and are expected to increase each year.
Furthermore, for employees to be exempt from overtime pay in California, they must spend 50% of their job performance meeting the criteria outlined above. In addition, their job duties must meet the following requirements:
- They exercise discretion and independent judgment.
- Their job duties are creative and intellectual in nature.
- They are skilled and proficient in practical and theoretical applications of highly specific information related to computer systems analysis, software engineering, and computer programming.
What to Do if You Think You Are Owed Unpaid Overtime?
The smartest thing an IT professional who believes their employer is unlawfully withholding wages from them can do is to speak with a computer IT tech workers overtime pay attorney. These legal professionals know the law and understand how it will apply to your individual position and job duties. A qualified lawyer can also advise you on the next steps in making an unpaid overtime wages claim and guide you through the legalities of a successful case.
Enlist Legal Counsel from a Computer IT Tech Workers Overtime Pay Attorney
If you are in doubt whatsoever about the way your employer classifies your job role, if your employer has denied you overtime pay, or if you believe they are not being completely honest about your wages, speaking to an overtime pay attorney can provide you with the clarity you need.
The truth is that if your employer is, in fact, denying you your owed overtime wages, they are breaking the law, violating your rights, and stealing your rightfully earned wages. Contact Ferraro Vega Employment Lawyers to speak with an employment attorney who is well-versed in employment law.