Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Working-days and hours of Exempt Employees

I have worked as a professional engineer for the

same company for 6 years, Monday through Friday,

from 50 to 55 hours a week. I have always been paid on Salary as an exempt employee, and do not receive overtime pay. Recently because the growth of the company has exceeded the rate of hiring, I have been mandated to come in every Sunday at 10am. This is apparently a permanent change. This new policy is not voluntary, does not apply evenly to all engineers, and the employee handbook offers no useful information. I was not consulted in any way before the policy was put in place. The extra hours are not needed in order to meet my official documented goals for this quarter. All projects that I am working on are on schedule. I continue to be paid on Salary since the new policy

was implemented.

I spoke with my Supervisor about problems I had making the 10am Sunday time due to religious (Church) and family commitments, but he was not interested.

If I am disciplined for not showing up on Sundays, what recourse do I have? What is my best course of action at this point? What are the limits�can an employer force a salaried exempt employee to work 18 hours a day, 7 days a week? Help!


Asked on 8/29/99, 8:49 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Thomas Pavone Pavone & Cohen

Re: Working-days and hours of Exempt Employees

If an employee is truly exempt under fed and state law, there is no restriction or regulation of the hours worked. The employer can require the additional hours.

As to the Sunday work, both state and fed law require reasonable accomodation for religious practice. Accomodation may include assignment of other employees, change in working time, or other modification to allow for the religious practice. These issues are fact based and require a detailed anaylsis of all factors.

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Answered on 9/03/99, 3:16 pm


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