California’s Comparative Negligence Laws in Personal Injury Cases

Based in Los Angeles, California, Attorney Eric Rasmussen leads a law firm that focuses on personal injury and real estate matters. One area in which Eric Rasmussen has extensive knowledge of as attorney is the intricacies of comparative negligence rules in personal injury cases.

As a comparative negligence state, California bases recovery decisions on the degree of the defendant’s fault versus that of the plaintiff. The type of comparative negligence in California is “pure,” which means that injured parties are able to collect damages, even in cases where they were 99 percent at fault for the accident.

Unlike modified comparative negligence states, the amount of fault in California is not capped at 50 percent. However, the plaintiff’s award can be decreased by the person’s percentage of fault. As an example, if a plaintiff is found to have been 25 percent at fault for a vehicle accident, he or she receives 75 percent of a hypothetical $100,000 verdict. If the percentage of fault assigned is higher, the recovery amount decreases correspondingly.

Maximizing a California recovery award involves hiring an experienced attorney who is able to prove that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty of care that was breached and that this resulted in an accident.

Employee Rights to Overtime Pay in California

Worker
Photo by Ahsan S. on Unsplash

A resident of Sherman Oaks, Eric Rasmussen is an attorney who has been practicing in Los Angeles for more than six years out of his own Los Angeles legal practice. Through his office, attorney Eric Rasmussen primarily handles personal injury and employment law matters on behalf of his clients.

In California, employees are generally classified as either exempt or non-exempt workers. While exempt employees are usually not eligible for overtime pay, non-exempt workers are. These workers must be at least 18 years old to receive general overtime pay, or be legally exempt from attending school if they are aged 16 or 17.

According to state law, general overtime pay is typically required when an individual works more than 8 hours in a workday or when they have more than 40 hours in a workweek. When applied, overtime pay is one and one-half times the employee’s regular rate and is applicable to all hours worked over 40 hours in the workweek or 8 hours in a workday. This same overtime rate applies to an employee’s first 8 hours if they work for a seventh consecutive day in a workweek.

The overtime rate increases to twice an employee’s usual pay rate if they for more than 12 hours in a single workday. Workers who work more than 8 hours on their seventh consecutive day at work are also eligible for double pay for the time they work past the 8 hours.

There are plenty of exceptions to overtime pay requirements in California that workers should be aware of. These include situations when the employee works an alternative workweek schedule of three 12-hour days or four 10-hour days. In these cases, overtime pay applies after 40 hours of work for the workweek. Employees in production roles may also be exempt from overtime pay if they are paid according to the number of units produced by the company.