Legal Question in Employment Law in California

If there is so much work that you cannot complete it all within an 8 hour day at the office, you may be able to justify the overtime at home. But if you are simply performing work at home because it is a convenience to you, I think you should get your employer to authorize the work in advance. It will not go over well, if you work at home, without the employer's knowledge and then request payment for your time they knew nothing about. Even if you can prove it was necessary for you to work off hours, you can be terminated for incurring unauthorized overtime. This response assumes you are a non-exempt employee. Exempt (salaried) employees get paid the same, regardless of how many hours they work.

If you are required to put in overtime at home, and the company is aware and tolerates or orders it, then you're entitled to be paid for it, unless you are legitimately a salaried exempt employee.