Property Management Firm Hit with California Labor Lawsuit

San Diego, CA A company that pays their non-exempt employees non-discretionary commission and bonus pay for performance on the job has nonetheless found itself in hot water for shortchanging its workers out of overtime pay due to an alleged failure to calculate such bonuses and commissions as part of the affected employee’s regular rate of pay. The practice is alleged to be a violation of California labor law.

To that end, a California labor lawsuit has been filed. According to a release from PRWeb Newswire (5/29/13), Lyon Management Group Inc. - a property management enterprise - provides bonus pay and non-discretionary commissions to its workers based on their performance on the job in communities at which the individuals are based. However, according to the California labor lawsuit, the bonus and commissions are not factored in with their regular rate of pay when additional hours above an eight-hour day, or 40-hour week, are logged, for which overtime must be paid according to California labor code.

By not including the bonus pay and commissions, employees are being shortchanged, according to the California and labor law case, which has been filed as a pending class action.

According to the California labor lawsuit, filed May 8 in Orange County Superior Court, Lyon Management Group “failed and still fails to include the commission and bonus compensation as part of the employees’ regular rate of pay for purposes of calculating overtime pay.” Such failure, the complaint continues, “has resulted in a systematic underpayment of overtime compensation” to non-exempt, hourly employees.

According to California labor employment law, only employees working in certain positions, or those who work in management, can be classified as exempt from claiming overtime pay. A popular gambit amongst many employers is to misclassify their employees as exempt from claiming overtime in order to avoid paying same to deserving employees.

However, in this California employee labor law case, the defendant correctly pays its non-exempt employees overtime. The quarrel the plaintiff has with the firm is the alleged failure to include bonus pay and non-discretionary commission with regular pay, for the calculation of overtime. Employees, as such, would be in for a bigger pay packet were the defendant to include all pay - including bonus pay and commissions - prior to calculating overtime.

The California and labor law action alleges that wage statements issued to the plaintiff and other prospective members of the class violate California state labor laws and, specifically, California Labor Code Section 226(a).

The California labor lawsuit is Sullivan v. Lyon Management Group, Case No. 30-2013-00649432-CU-BT-CXC