Sun Microsystems is allegedly violating California labor law by not paying Technical Support Engineers who write code overtime pay.
Federal law and the law in most states requires overtime pay for employees who work more than 40 hours per week unless the employee fits within one of the limited exemptions available under federal or state law. In California, the overtime requirement applies where the employee works more than eight hours in a day or more than 40 hours in a workweek.
For years, employers in California have denied overtime wages to Technical Support Engineers based on the mistaken impression that these individuals are exempt from the overtime requirements.
Given the job demands on those working in the IT and computer fields and the number of hours these people often work, employers' misclassification of these employees as exempt from overtime has denied many employees substantial amounts of overtime wages owed to them.
Since employees in the computer industry are in high demand, employees often work long hours and are sometimes overlooked for overtime pay. Overtime pay usually equals one and a half times the regular pay rate.
California State Labor Law for Computer Professionals
California State Labor Laws protect computer employees from unpaid overtime. California Labor Code 515.5 or SB 88 states that employees in the computer software field may be exempt from overtime pay if they meet several requirements. One exempt-status requirement involves pay rate: "The employee's hourly rate of pay is not less than forty-seven dollars and eighty-one cents ($47.81), or the annualized full-time salary equivalent of that rate."If a California computer software employee earns less than $47.81 per hour or the annual salary equivalent of approximately $99,445, they may qualify for overtime pay.
