Counsel Backs State’s 8-Hour Overtime Law

Assembly Democrats, who are trying to prevent Gov. Pete Wilson from changing workplace overtime rules affecting an estimated 8 million nonunion workers in California, have picked up support from the Legislature’s legal experts.

A labor panel appointed by the governor lacks the authority to throw out a long-standing state law requiring overtime pay after eight hours of work a day, according to the legislative counsel.

The opinion was brought to light Tuesday by Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles), who called on Wilson and the five-member Industrial Welfare Commission to “cease and desist from their attempts to repeal the eight-hour day.”

A Wilson administration official said, however, that its lawyers were just as certain that the commission acted legally when it ruled that overtime pay should commence only after an employee had completed 40 hours of work a week, in any combination of hours worked per day.

John Duncan, chief deputy director of the state Industrial Welfare Department, said Tuesday that “this is the beginning and not the end” of the overtime battle. “We clearly feel the IWC has the authority to address these issues.”

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles)--anticipating that the legal standoff will end up in the courts--told reporters Tuesday that the Democrats were “in the process of identifying plaintiffs” to file a lawsuit.

Legislative Counsel Bion M. Gregory conducted a review of the state’s overtime law at Knox’s request. Gregory concluded that the commission “does not have the authority, in the absence of further legislation, to amend existing wage and hour orders.”

Jack Horton, a senior deputy in the legislative counsel’s office, said it was “relatively uncommon” but not unheard of for his office to disagree with state agencies in the interpretation of state laws.

In this case, he said, “the eight-hour-day law would have no meaning” if the commission had the authority to alter overtime work orders.

The Industrial Welfare Commission voted 3-2 last month to switch to the 40-hour-a-week overtime rule. After a last public hearing in Los Angeles on April 4, the commission is expected to issue its final ruling within 30 days.

A change in overtime rules would apply to hourly workers in several broad economic categories, including manufacturing, transportation, retail sales and some clerical jobs.

Proponents of the change argue that both workers and employers would benefit.

The California Manufacturers Assn., for example, maintains that “current rules pertaining to overtime hurt employees and employers [alike] who need greater flexibility . . . to meet personal and family needs.”

Knox said he agrees that work rules need more flexibility and cited a bill he has introduced to provide for 10-hour, four-day workweeks as well as other options that would not require the employer to pay overtime. But such work rule changes would be at the worker’s option, Knox said, and “would not sacrifice the protections of the eight-hour day.”

Officials at the state Department of Industrial Relations counter that the four-day workweek, for example, is already available if two-thirds of a work force votes to adopt it.