# Salaried Employees in California **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 17, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526 "2015-09-17T01:55:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cuirous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Cuirous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuirous)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526/1 "2015-09-17T01:55:07Z")
I am a salaried employee in California. working in the construction industry. Our company is a 24/7 operation. My employer expects me to be at work at 6am and I generally get out of work at 5pm. I work Monday through Friday. I am also required to answer my telephone 24/7 receiving 2-3 phone calls at all hours most nights, and occasionally go into the office on Saturday and/or Sunday and receive calls on those days too. I receive vacation hours which I cannot use most of the time because I don’t have someone to cover for me and since I am maxed out, I no longer earn vacation hours. When I am lucky enough to have someone that will partially cover for me, I still have to answer the phone while on vacation and they dock me the hours. Can someone tell me if any/all of this is legal? Curious in CALI ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526/2 "2015-09-17T02:03:26Z")
California is an at will state. You are free to leave and pursue a better job, with better working conditions and benefits, anytime you wish. Unless there is no signed contract which states precisely what your duties and responsibilities are, and they are forcing you to work against your will, I don’t see a legal option. You can go into your manager’s office and complain about the conditions and threaten to quit, but don’t be surprised if they soon find a replacement for you and terminate your employment. Did I mention that California is an 'At Will" state? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526/3 "2015-09-17T02:21:15Z")
You should probably talk to someone in labor relations. This site: > **[Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE)](https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_vacation.htm)** says accrued and unused vacation time must be paid for at termination. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526/4 "2015-09-17T02:57:58Z")
You cannot lose vacation hours in California. When Ford owned Volvo (my employer) Ford had two vacation policies for employees: 1. The entire world except California: use your vacation by the end of the year or lose it forever 2. California: didn’t use all your vacation? Here is a check for what you did not use. I use to try and NOT use all my vacation, that check came in handy for those Christmas bills. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526/5 "2015-09-17T03:34:09Z")
To start at the end [from here](http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/faq_vacation.htm) > [@](#): > > There is no legal requirement in California that an employer provide its employees with either paid or unpaid vacation time. However, if an employer does have an established policy, practice, or agreement to provide paid vacation, then certain restrictions are placed on the employer as to how it fulfills its obligation to provide vacation pay. So they do not have to give you vacation pay BUT if there is a company policy on it, then they must abide by it. Check the employee handbook. As for not being able to take vacation, what happens when you try? Do they deny it? Again check your handbook. Note > [@](#): > > An employer can place a reasonable cap on vacation benefits that prevents an employee from earning vacation over a certain amount of hours. (Boothby v. Atlas Mechanical (1992) 6 Cal.App.4th 1595) If you feel that they are denying your vacation time and combined with the cap that they are effectually denying you earning more vacation. > [@](#): > > The California Legislature, in order to ensure that vacation plans were fairly and equitably handled, provided that the Labor Commissioner was to “apply the principles of equity and fairness” in resolving vacation claims. I would certainly contact them about having to work on your vacation hours. As for the hours issue, check out [this link](http://www.dir.ca.gov/serp.html?q=non+exempt&cx=001779225245372747843%3Ahq74utyoxui&cof=FORID%3A10&ie=UTF-8). If you are exempt, from your description it would probably be because you are a [professional](http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Glossary.asp?Button1=P#professional%20exemption) or an [administrator](http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Glossary.asp?Button1=A#administrative%20exemption). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526/6 "2015-09-17T15:25:50Z")
> [@Cuirous](#): > > I am a salaried employee in California. working in the construction industry. Our company is a 24/7 operation. My employer expects me to be at work at 6am and I generally get out of work at 5pm. I work Monday through Friday. I am also required to answer my telephone 24/7 receiving 2-3 phone calls at all hours most nights, and occasionally go into the office on Saturday and/or Sunday and receive calls on those days too. I receive vacation hours which I cannot use most of the time because I don’t have someone to cover for me and since I am maxed out, I no longer earn vacation hours. When I am lucky enough to have someone that will partially cover for me, I still have to answer the phone while on vacation and they dock me the hours. Welcome to the world of salaried exempt employees everywhere. It’s not slavery, and you are free to find another job with another employer if you don’t like the one you have. While you listed all of the burdens you have, you failed to list any advantages you may have. The burdens and responsibilities you listed are very similar to mine. So I’ll list my advantages. I have a competitive base salary for my position. I have reasonable flexibility with control over my time, (can leave to go to my kids school things, etc. if necessary, as I am readily available in case of a crisis via my phone). I lead a team and take responsibility for mine and their work. I am eligible for additional compensation in the form of bonuses, long term incentives, short term incentives, etc. based upon my performance. I have opportunities for advancement. I have opportunities for increased compensation and responsibility. It’s a trade-off. I would assume that you have similar opportunities in addition to your increased responsibilities. If you don’t feel that the increased burdens are fairly weighted with better compensation, etc. then you should probably consider a change. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526/7 "2015-09-17T15:35:11Z")
Legal advice is best suited to IMHO. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526/8 "2015-09-17T17:08:36Z")
I don’t know where you are in California, but in some places the construction business is really hot so it should be possible to find another job. I’m salaried in California. At one place I worked the expected hours were 8 am to 9 pm (they gave us dinner and took names) so I eventually left. As for vacation, it is your boss’ responsibility to find a backup for you. Forget about vacation - what happens if you get sick? If you are truly that important, it might be good to just announce you are taking next Friday off. But it would be good to have another job lined up. I think some employers are acting as if the recession were still on and the unemployment rate is 10%. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2015, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/salaried-employees-in-california/731526/9 "2015-09-17T19:47:53Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > You cannot lose vacation hours in California. > When Ford owned Volvo (my employer) Ford had two vacation policies for employees: > > 1. The entire world except California: use your vacation by the end of the year or lose it forever > 2. California: didn’t use all your vacation? Here is a check for what you did not use. > I use to try and NOT use all my vacation, that check came in handy for those Christmas bills. It’s true that you cannot lose vacation hours in CA, however after a certain point the vast majority of folks they simply stop accruing those hours.