Executive Exemption under California Labor Law

The Industrial Welfare Commission, ICW Wage Order No. 4, and Labor Code §515, sets forth the requirements which must be complied with to classify an employee as exempt from applicable labor laws. For an employee to be exempt from these rules as a bona fide “executive,” all the following criteria must be met and Employers have the burden of proving that:

(a) The employee’s primary duty must be management of the enterprise, or of a customarily recognized department or subdivision;
                and,
(b) The employee must customarily and regularly direct the work of at least two or more other employees; and,
(c) The employee must have the authority to hire and fire, or to command particularly serious attention to his or his recommendations
                on such actions affecting other employees; and,
(d) The employee must customarily and regularly exercise discretion and independent judgment; and,
(e) The employee must be primarily engaged in duties which meet the test of exemption.

If you think that you or your fellow employers currently are or formerly were misclassified as exempt from overtime wages based on the executive exemption, you may be entitled to overtime wages for all of the hours you worked. It does not matte if your employer classified you as an exempt salaried employee if you were misclassified. Visit http://www.bamlawca.com for further information on the executive exemption.