Devoted to Corporate Attorneys, Corporate Lawyers, and Corporate Counsel

The following is not meant to be legal advice.

As reported in the California Lawyer in January 2007, one trend in employment law litigation for 2007 may be wage and hour laws surrounding computer professionals. This may be a hot topic for employers in Silicon Valley.  California seems to have a stricter computer professionals exemption requirement than other states.  Those employers with employees throughout the United States may need to audit their records to see if they comply with each state in the United States.

Those states that do not have their own standards follow the federal standard.   To the extent the F.L.S.A. and state wage and hour laws conflict, the law establishing the higher standard (i.e. providing greater protections for the employee) applies.  This is according to 29 U.S.C. § 218(a); 29 C.F.R. § 541.4.  When state wage and hour laws define an exemption more narrowly than the F.L.S.A., the more narrow state law applies.