Salaried but Not Exempt: How Employers Misuse the White-Collar Exemptions

A salary and a manager title do not erase overtime rights. California’s exemption tests are strict, and most misclassified salaried workers are owed years of overtime.

What California Law Says

The executive, administrative, and professional exemptions require a salary of at least twice the state minimum wage for full-time work, plus duties that are primarily exempt — more than half your time on genuinely managerial or independent-judgment work. Fail either prong and every overtime hour is owed.

How to Fight Back, Step by Step

1. Compare your salary to the current exemption threshold — double the state minimum wage at 2080 hours per year.
2. Track how you actually spend your day; assistant managers who mostly run registers and stock shelves usually fail the duties test.
3. Reconstruct your daily and weekly hours for up to three or four years.
4. Calculate overtime using your weekly salary divided by 40 to find the regular rate.
5. Demand payment, then file with the Labor Commissioner if refused.

Common Questions

My title is manager. Doesn’t that settle it?

No. Titles are irrelevant. What matters is whether more than half your working time involves exempt duties like hiring, directing employees, and exercising independent judgment.

How is overtime calculated on a salary?

For nonexempt salaried workers, weekly salary divided by 40 yields the regular rate; overtime hours are then paid at 1.5 or 2 times that rate on top of salary.