How Many Hours Is Part-Time in California?
You may wonder how many hours are considered part-time in California and how time clock laws affect your rights.
Read on to determine whether your employer violated time clock laws in determining part-time hours in California.
California employees possess a legal right to compensation in the event their employers violate time clock laws.
The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) governs time clock laws related to work hours, overtime wages, and record keeping.
If you would like to speak with an experienced California employment lawyer, please us at Starpoint Employment Law today. We offer free consultations.
Part-Time vs. Full-Time Employees
As an hourly employee, California considers you a non-exempt employee.
Hourly employees hold the right to be paid only for hours worked.
By contrast, exempt employees receive their full amount of base pay if they work any hours during a work period.
You may ask how many hours is part-time in California? California law provides that part-time employees include anyone working less than 40 hours per week. But it can be different for independent contractors, if that's you, we wrote a blog about those laws.
Do I Get Overtime Pay?
Non-exempt hourly employees have the right to earn overtime pay.
Employees may earn overtime if they work over eight hours in one day or over 40 hours per week.
Employees are also entitled to time-and-a-half for the first eight hours of work completed on the seventh day of a workweek.
For most part-time employees, the possibility of overtime is rare, since to be considered part-time in the first place, you must work less than 40 hours per week.
However, in some situations, part-time employees may work over eight hours in one day.
In this situation, California employment laws entitle such employees to overtime pay for that day.
What If I Leave Early?
If you feel sick or need to leave work early because of an emergency, your employer is not obligated to pay for any unworked hours.
Therefore, if you work three hours of a four-hour shift, you receive pay only for the three hours worked.
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Do Part-Time Employees Get Benefits in California?
Individuals that work part-time hours in California are not entitled to receive benefits afforded to full-time employees.
Full-time employees may receive medical, dental, and vision benefits from their employer.
However, it is uncommon for part-time employees to receive these benefits from their employers.
Sick Pay
Those working part-time hours in California accrue sick pay. This applies as long as the employee worked a minimum of 30 days in a year.
An employer may choose to limit the amount of paid sick leave an employee may use in one year. This limit is set to 24 hours or three days.
Unused sick leave must carry over to the next year; however, an employer can cap rollover sick time at 48 hours or six days.
Minimum Wage
After determining how many hours is considered part-time in California, understand that working part-time hours in California does not exclude you from the right to earn at least minimum wage in your position.
Although some exceptions exist, almost all California employees must receive payment no less than minimum wage as required by the state, county, or city where the individual is employed.
Depending on employer location, many local ordinances in California require employers to comply with the highest applicable minimum wage rate.
Contact a California Employment Attorney Today
The attorneys at Starpoint Employment Law provide employees throughout southern California with quality legal expertise to create unique one-on-one legal representation with employment-related legal disputes.
We work to provide all our clients with the highest and most professional legal experience when dealing with complex employment law matters.
If you believe your employer violated California wage and hour laws and wrongfully considered you part-time, the team at Starpoint Employment Law is here to help.
We offer a free consultation to discuss the facts of your case.
Contact us online or call (310) 882-7868 today, and let’s discuss your case.
Aidin Ghavimi
Aidin is a partner at Starpoint LC, Attorneys at Law, and focuses on personal injury and employment law cases in and around Southern California. He earned his Juris Doctorate from the Loyola School of Law and his Bachelor’s from USC. Aidin’s primary goal is to bring justice to his clients and to ensure they are able to move on with their lives after a serious injury.
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