As explained in various posts on this blog, California employees are presumed to deserve overtime pay for any hours worked over 40 in one week or 8 in one day, even if they are paid a salary, unless the employer can prove that an exemption to that rule applies.

The "computer software professionals" exemption is rarely used successfully by employers in overtime cases and such employees are usually non-exempt employees.

One of the reasons that this exemption is so rare is that the employee must make at least $49.77 per hour (adjusted for inflation each year), which based on a 40-hour week translates to $103,521.60 per year.

California just made the unprecedented decision to dramatically lower this threshold to $36 per hour, or $74,880 per year based on a 40-hour week, effective January 1, 2008.

This exemption will still be difficult for employers to satisfy, because most of these employees do not work a 40-hour week, so the $36 per hour threshold will still be unsatisfied if the employee is not paid a substantial amount of money.

For example, if an employee is paid a salary of $90,000 per year, but works 50 hours per week, the employee is essentially only being paid $34.62 per hour, so the exemption would not apply. In this example, the employee would have a substantial (and relatively simple) case for unpaid overtime.

As a basic rule of thumb, if you are a computer professional in California being paid a salary and working overtime, your employer likely owes you some unpaid overtime and you should contact an attorney as soon as possible to learn what rights you have.

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