California exempt employee working 60+ hours — am I owed overtime?

I work as a "Marketing Manager" at a mid-size company in Orange County, California. I'm salaried at $72,000/year and classified as exempt from overtime. I've been consistently working 55-65 hours per week for the past year — sometimes more during product launches.

Here's the thing: despite my title, I don't actually manage anyone. I have no direct reports, I don't make hiring or firing decisions, and I don't set strategy. I basically execute marketing campaigns that my director plans. I create social media posts, write email copy, coordinate with vendors, and update the website. My director approves everything before it goes out.

A friend told me I might be misclassified and actually owed overtime. Is that true? We're talking about potentially hundreds of overtime hours over the past year.

Your friend may be right. California has strict requirements for the overtime exemption, and based on what you've described, there are significant red flags that you may be misclassified. Let me break down the analysis:

1. Salary threshold: For 2024, California requires exempt employees to earn at least $66,560/year (which is 2x the state minimum wage for employers with 26+ employees). Your $72,000 salary meets this threshold, so the salary test is satisfied. However, this alone doesn't make you exempt.

2. Duties test: This is where your employer likely fails. Under California Labor Code Section 510 and the applicable IWC Wage Orders, the "executive exemption" requires that you:

• Customarily and regularly direct the work of two or more employees
• Have the authority to hire or fire, or have your recommendations on hiring/firing given particular weight
• Customarily and regularly exercise discretion and independent judgment
• Spend more than 50% of your work time on exempt duties

Based on your description — no direct reports, no hiring/firing authority, work approved by your director — you likely do not meet the executive exemption. The "administrative exemption" is another possibility, but it requires that your primary duty involve office work directly related to management policies or general business operations, with the exercise of discretion and independent judgment. Executing campaigns planned by someone else doesn't typically qualify.

California uses the stricter "quantitative" approach — you must spend more than 50% of your time on exempt duties. If you're spending most of your day on production work (writing copy, creating content, updating websites), you're likely non-exempt regardless of your title.

If you've been misclassified, you may be owed:

• Unpaid overtime for all hours over 8/day and 40/week (time-and-a-half) and over 12/day (double time)
• Meal and rest period premiums if you weren't getting proper breaks
• Waiting time penalties under Labor Code 203
• Liquidated damages equal to the unpaid wages
• Attorney's fees

I'd recommend consulting with a California employment attorney. Most offer free consultations for wage claims, and many work on contingency. You can also check out resources at Employment Demand Letters if you want to understand the demand process.

I work in HR (not for your company, just to be clear) and this is one of the most common misclassification patterns I see. Companies slap a "Manager" title on someone, pay them a salary, and assume that's sufficient for the exemption. It's not — the duties test is what matters, not the title.

One thing I'd add: start keeping a detailed log of your daily activities now. Track what you do each hour for the next few weeks. If this turns into a claim, that contemporaneous record of your actual duties will be very powerful evidence. Note things like "9am-12pm: wrote social media posts per director's brief" versus "2pm-3pm: independently developed marketing strategy." The balance of those activities is what determines your classification.

AttorneyLindaReyes — this is incredibly helpful, thank you. I'm pretty sure I spend at least 80% of my day on what you'd call production work. I almost never make independent decisions about strategy. Even the vendor contracts I manage have to be approved by my director.

HRProfessional_Amy — great advice on the activity log. I'll start that today. I actually have rough records in my project management tool (Asana) that show all my tasks and when I completed them. Would that count as documentation?

I'm nervous about retaliation if I bring this up. Is there any protection for that?

The Asana records could be very useful as evidence of your actual duties. Save copies of everything to your personal device or email — don't rely on having continued access to company systems.

Regarding retaliation: California Labor Code Section 98.6 prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who file wage claims or complaints. If your employer fires, demotes, or takes any adverse action against you for asserting your wage rights, you'd have a separate retaliation claim with additional damages. Additionally, Labor Code Section 1102.5 provides broad whistleblower protections.

That said, retaliation does happen in practice. This is another reason why consulting with an employment attorney before taking action is wise. They can advise you on the best approach — sometimes a demand letter or filing with the Labor Commissioner is preferable to raising it internally first.

I was in almost the exact same position three years ago — "Content Marketing Manager" with zero direct reports, working 50-60 hours a week. I filed with the California Labor Commissioner and settled for about 14 months of back overtime plus penalties. It took about 8 months from filing to settlement.

One piece of advice: if you do pursue this, be prepared for the possibility that the working relationship with your employer will end. In my case, I filed after I had already accepted a new job. It made the whole process much less stressful since I didn't have to worry about the day-to-day dynamic.