Brandon McKelvey Published in Employment & Technology Law360
"California's New Overtime Law For Computer Professionals"

Brandon McKelvey’s article, "California's New Overtime Law For Computer Professionals," was published in the October 13, 2008 issues of Employment Law360 and Technology Law360. In his article, Brandon discusses how on September 30, 2008 California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law urgency legislation amending the overtime exemption requirements for computer professionals in Section 515.5 of the Labor Code. The changes to Section 515.5 expand the existing exemption to certain employees in the computer field making not less than $75,000 in salary per year and at least $6,250 per month. Under the new version of the statute, a computer professional that meets the criteria for the exemption and is paid $75,000 or more in salary generally will be exempt from overtime.

According to Brandon, the law was revised because "California businesses in the high-tech sector pushed for a revision of the statue after facing class action lawsuits by employees who calculated their annualized pay as less than the minimum hourly rate of pay required under the prior version of the law." Brandon concludes that "this [law] provides needed relief and certainty to employers that employ computer professionals who work more than 40 hours per week."