Have you been promoted and classified as an exempt employee, but your responsibilities have not changed?

If this is your case, your employer may owe you compensation.

In many cases, employees in supervisory or management positions are considered “exempt” under employment law. An exempt employee does not receive overtime pay or other benefits to which a “non-exempt” employee would be entitled.

Sometimes employers take advantage of this situation by promoting workers to a supervisory position to avoid paying the benefits according to the law that corresponds to them. If you have been promoted to manager or supervisor, but your duties or responsibilities have not significantly changed, you may have been misclassified. If this is the case, compensation may be due.

Currently, the minimum wage to be considered an “exempt” employee is $58,240 per year.

You could be classified as “exempt” in California and still receive overtime pay if your wages fall below a certain amount. If you suspect that your employer has promoted you to avoid this payment, it is recommended that you contact an experienced employment law attorney.

Misclassification is not an uncommon situation.

Similar to promotion, some employers classify their employees as contractors. Contractors work outside the company structure to perform sporadic or non-fixed work. The easiest way to identify a contractor is to ask if they work under their own name or company. An example of contractors is the cleaning staff that also works for other companies or people who do remodeling work for other clients. If your type of work does not apply to this, and you are exclusively employed by one company, it is very unlikely that your classification as a contractor is valid. You could actually be a “non-exempt” employee entitled to overtime pay, breaks and mealtimes, and other protections. Whether this misclassification is intentional or not, it needs to be reversed so that you can enjoy the benefits to which you are entitled.

Misclassification is a situation that occurs more than people think. In many cases, it is not limited to a single employee. Several people within the company could be affected who are owed compensation and payments. It is possible to file joint lawsuits.