RSS
 

What Is The Legal Definition Of “work” Under California Law?

08 Feb

I have an employee who is trying to sue me for overtime hours and probably breaks. Without getting into the details, I have found substantial computer screen shot evidence that during her normal work hours she wasn’t “working” and in fact doing extensive personal stuff. I would like to argue, in part, that she wasn’t “working” and therefore not even entitled to the monies she already received (let alone additional monies). I am not asking for recovery of those monies just a squashing of the case. Is this a viable argument? What is the legal definition of “work” under California law?

 
 

Tags: , , , ,

  1. jay6196

    February 8, 2010 at 2:50 pm

    you are looking in the wrong direction
    productivity of the employee is irrelevant.
    if they are at work they must be paid.
    you can discipline an employee for poor performance but you still must pay them and provide breaks as prescribed by California law………
    California’s definition :
    “The time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer, including all the time the employee is suffered or permitted to work, whether or not required to do so.”http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Glossary.asp?…

     
  2. michr

    February 8, 2010 at 3:00 pm

    last time i checked work was force x distance