Legal Question in Employment Law in California

It is improper, and there is indeed a monetary benefit to the employee in California if the employee is entitled to overtime. All hours over eight in a day must be compensated at time-and-a-half. California law differs from federal law in this respect.

As Mr. Perry said, falsifying the time card in this fashion is improper and will likely be detrimental to the employee. This is because, in most situations, an employee in California is entitled to overtime (time-and-a-half) compensation for hours worked over 8 in a day. Thus, if an employee earns $12 per hour, he or she would be owed $480 for a 40-hour workweek with no overtime (i.e., five 8-hour days). On the other hand, if the employee works four 10-hour days, he or she would be entitled to 32 hours of straight time (32 x $12 = $384), PLUS 8 hours of overtime (8 x $12 x 1.5 = $144), for a total of $528. So in this example, assuming an hourly rate of $12, the employee would be underpaid by $48 for the week.