BILL ANALYSIS
SB 812
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB 812 (Correa)
As Amended August 30, 2007
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE :Vote not relevant
ELECTIONS APPROPRIATIONS
(vote not relevant) (vote not relevant)
SUMMARY : Specifies that pharmacists employed in the mercantile
industry are authorized to adopt alternative workweek schedules
that include workdays of not more than 12 hours within a 40 hour
workweek without the payment of overtime compensation, similar
to a provision of existing law that applies to pharmacists in
the health care industry.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Defines a day's work as eight hours of labor.
2)Requires that any work in excess of eight hours day, in excess
of 40 hours a week, and the first eight hours on the seventh
day of work are to be compensated at no less than one and
one-half times the regular rate of pay, and provides
corresponding exemptions for certain classifications of
employees.
3)Requires that any work in excess of 12 hours a day and in
excess of eight hours on the seventh day of work are to be
compensated at no less than twice the regular rate of pay, and
provides corresponding exemptions for certain classifications
of employees.
4)Allows employees of an employer to adopt a regularly scheduled
alternative workweek that authorizes work by the affected
employees for no longer than ten hours per day within a 40-
hour workweek without the payment of overtime. Such
alternative workweek schedules are permissible only if they
receive approval in a secret ballot election by two-thirds of
the affected employees.
5)Authorizes employees in the health care industry to adopt
alternative workweek schedules that include workdays of not
more than 12 hours within a 40 hour workweek without the
SB 812
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payment of overtime compensation, provided that certain other
conditions are met. For example, such employees who work
beyond 12 hours in a workday must be compensated at double
their regular rate of pay.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : Prior to 2000, pharmacists in California were
considered by many to be exempt from the payment of overtime due
to the operation of the "professional exemption" with excludes
persons employed in a professional capacity that meet certain
criteria.
However, that changed with the enactment of SB 651 (Burton),
Chapter 190, Statutes of 1999. Under SB 651, the law was
amended to provide that a person employed in the practice of
pharmacy is not exempt from the payment of overtime unless he or
she individually meets the criteria established under two other
exemptions for executive or administrative employees. SB 651
also specified that no person employed in the practice of
pharmacy may be subject to exemption under the "professional
exemption." SB 651 was supported by the California Retailers
Association and organized labor.
Pharmacists practicing in California are generally covered under
two possible wage orders of the Industrial Welfare Commission:
Wage Order 4 (which covers the healthcare industry, among other
occupations) or Wage Order 7 (which covers the mercantile
industry, such as retail establishments). Following the
enactment of SB 651, both of these wage orders were amended to
reflect the new exemption language.
Under current law, employees generally must be paid overtime
after eight hours in a workday. Current law allows employees to
adopt an alternative workweek schedule that authorizes 10 hour
workdays within a 40 hour workweek without the payment of
overtime. Wage Order 4 goes even further and authorizes
employees is the health care industry to authorize alternative
schedules with workdays of up to 12 hours within a 40 hour
workweek without the payment of overtime. However, Wage Order 7
currently does not contain similar language. The California
Retailers Association argues that this was an inadvertent
oversight on the part of the Industrial Welfare Commission as it
relates to pharmacists under Wage Order 7, and that this bill is
intended to correct that inconsistency.
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Therefore, a pharmacist employed in the health care industry and
covered under Wage Order 4 may adopt an alternative workweek
schedule with 12 hour workdays without the payment of overtime.
However, the California Retailers Association argues that it is
not clear whether a pharmacist under Wage Order 7 is authorized
to adopt such a work schedule. This bill would eliminate that
discrepancy by authorizing pharmacists in the mercantile
industry to operate under the same rules as pharmacists employed
in the health care industry covered under Wage Order 4.
This bill is sponsored by the California Retailers Association,
who argues that it corrects an inadvertent omission from the
prior agreement on SB 651 and would simply make the two wage
orders consistent, allowing pharmacists the flexibility of
designing their work schedule to accommodate their professional
and personal schedule. The sponsor states that they have
developed the current language in consultation with the United
Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) and the California Labor
Federation, AFL-CIO, who are both neutral on the bill.
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091
FN: 0002576