In a case involving California's overtime law, under which employees start earning time-and-a-half after working eight hours on any day, the state's Supreme Court has ruled that California businesses that bring in workers from other states must treat them as California residents for employment purposes. In other words, they must pay these out-of-state employees overtime after eight hours on the job on any given day.
In ruling on Sullivan v. Oracle Corp., the California Supreme Court wrote:
To permit nonresidents to work in California without the protection of our overtime law would completely sacrifice, as to those employees, the state’s important public policy goals of protecting health and safety and preventing the evils associated with over work. . . .Not to apply California law would also encourage employers to substitute lower paid temporary employees from other states for California employees, thus threatening California’s legitimate interest in expanding the job market.
Daily overtime is a rarity in most parts of the country, but it's been enshrined in California for quite some time, just one of the many differences when doing business in California..
If you operate a business with employees in California, you should learn the ins and outs of state law by procuring a copy of Personnel Concepts' 2011 Employment Law Guide for California. Get yours today.