I work from home in the after-hours, but my employer says he does not have to pay me for my time working at home. Is he correct?

No. Some jobs demand a lot from an employee whether it be work load or work hours. We actually get quite a bit of calls from potential clients who are paid hourly and once five o’clock rolls around they clock out, go home, and then keep working well into the night. This is known as off-the-clock work.

Off the clock work is when an employee does work for the benefit of the employer before clocking in or after clocking out. Under California law, an employer must compensate all non-exempt employees (hourly employees) for all off-the-clock work. For example, an executive assistant who is paid hourly works for a CEO from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. However, when she goes home at the end of the day, she still answers calls, e-mails, and works on reports. Even though she is working off the clock, the executive assistant would be entitled to pay for her time worked.

If you have been working off the clock and your employer is not properly compensating you, contact our firm for a free consultation. You can also review our overtime page for more information. If you are misclassified as a salaried person, you may be owed overtime pay as well.