Category Archives: Hourly or Salary?

Lady Gaga Gets Sued for Overtime – This Deposition Transcript is Simply Amazing

Lady Gaga Sued for Overtime - Wage & Hour AttorneyEven the rich and famous get sued for not paying overtime. Stefani Germanotta, aka “Lady Gaga,” was sued in 2011 by Jennifer O’Neill, her personal assistant. O’Neill claims she’s owed overtime for serving at Gaga’s “beck and call” around the clock between early 2009 and March 2011. She claims she worked $393,000of worth of unpaid overtime.

Gaga was deposed last year. As I’m an employment lawyer, I’m just going to say this…I certainly hope that I can sue someone as awesome as Lady Gaga. I want to have a deposition like this. Now, I could spend a bunch of time detailing the questions, but I think it would be far more entertaining to just quote the ridiculousness that came out of Gaga’s mouth.

“Are you going to stare at me like a witch this whole time — honestly?” Gaga asked one of the lawyers. “Because this is going to be a long f–k ng day that you brought me here.” Later she states: “No, no, no. Listen, listen, sir, if you’re going to ask me questions for the next five hours, I am going to tell you exactly what f–king happened, so that the judge can read on this transcript exactly what’s going on.”

Gaga said none of her employees get paid overtime, adding that O’Neill “knew exactly what she was getting into, and she knew there was no overtime….” “This whole case is bulls–t, and you know it,” Gaga added.

According to the New York Post, Gaga conceded her decision not to pay overtime wasn’t based on labor laws, but is “actually based on a bubbly, good heart.” Gaga said she paid O’Neill’s $75,000 a year. She gave the job to O’Neill as “a favor, and Jennifer was majorly unqualified for it.”

Gaga said O’Neill failed at even the most basic of tasks, noting that “one of the biggest problems I had with Jen is that I felt like she didn’t lay out all my stuff for me” while traveling, because “there is 20 bags and there is only one me, and I can’t sift through everything.

Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Hourly or Salary?, Overtime, Wages and Hours

Do Employees Get Overtime If They Are Paid A Salary?

Do employees get overtime if they are paid a salary?A common question employment lawyers get is: “I get paid a salary but I work 50, 60, 70 hours a week. Should I be paid overtime?”

As with most legal questions, the answer is far more complicated than the question. But this article attempts to outline the answer without too much legal gobbly-gook.

One of the biggest myths about overtime in California is that people who are paid a salary are never entitled to overtime.  The sad fact is that many people who are paid a salary by their employers are entitled to overtime and don’t receive it, and even more are paid hourly but don’t get any overtime because they work for dishonest companies with shady time-keeping procedures. Thus, if someone tells you that you are not entitled to overtime just because you are paid a salary, they are dead wrong.

In California, everyone is entitled to overtime pay unless they first meet one of the legal overtime exceptions. These exceptions are called “exemptions” under the law. Think of an exemption as a test: if your job passes the test your employer gets rewarded and doesn’t have to pay you overtime; however, if your job fails the exemption, then you are rewarded with overtime. I italicized “job” to emphasize that the test is dependent on your job functions, not on your personal capabilities.

Employers sometimes find it difficult pass an exemption for your job. Undeterred, many companies claim that your job meets the exemption when, in reality, it doesn’t. They do this because they don’t want to pay you the hour. It’s so much easier to pay you a salary – there are no time cards, variable monthly payments, and no overtime.

The next question becomes, what are these exemptions and does your job meet one of them? There are four major exemptions: “administrative,” “executive,” “professional,” and the “computer software professional.” If your job doesn’t meet the requirements for one of these exemptions then you are entitled to overtime pay.

Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Exempt, FLSA – Fair Labor & Standards Act, Hourly or Salary?, Non-exempt, Overtime, Wages and Hours

California Wage Orders

What are wage orders and why do they matter to an employer?  Why do they matter to an employee?

For an employer, a wage order governs the wages, hours and working conditions in California.  For example, Wage Order 02 guides an employer in the personal services industry on what to pay an employee, what employment records must be kept, when meal and rest periods are mandatory, and other details.  Each wage order is meant to be self-explanatory but in reality is difficult and boring to read.  Wage orders must be posted in the workplace at a location where employees can read them during the workday.

Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Exempt, Hourly or Salary?, Non-exempt, Overtime, Wages and Hours