Non-Residents Entitled to Overtime for Work in California

By: Laura C. Hess

The California Supreme Court recently ruled that California overtime laws apply to work performed in California for California-based employers by their employees who do not live in California. The case is Sullivan v. Oracle.

Oracle is a California-based corporation. Three of its training instructors filed a lawsuit against the company. None of the employees lived in California, but they performed work as instructors in California and in other states. During the time period at issue in the lawsuit, one employee worked 74 days in California, another employee worked 110 days and the third employee worked 20 days.

The employees’ lawsuit claimed that the employees were not paid overtime for days that they worked in California.

The Court considered the question of whether the California Labor Code applies to overtime work performed in California for a California-based employer by out-of-state workers, such that overtime pay is required for work in excess of eight hours per day or in excess of 40 hours per week?

The Court answered this question “yes.” It found that California has “unambiguously asserted a strong interest in applying its overtime law to all nonexempt workers and all work performed within its borders.”

For more information about this case, click here for a link to the California Chamber of Commerce’s website.

Laura C. Hess is a Partner with Kring & Chung, LLP‘s Irvine, CA office. She can be contacted at (949)-261-7700 or lhessat-sign kringandchung DOT com .