New Date Set for Repeal of Daily Overtime

State Industrial Welfare Commission officials said their repeal of daily overtime rules covering 8 million California workers is set to take effect on Jan. 1. Previously, IWC officials said the repeal of the rules, which require overtime pay whenever a worker puts in more than eight hours in a day, could become law as soon as July 1. Officials now say, however, that they need more time to publish the new law and to educate employers about the change. Union groups have filed two lawsuits seeking to block the repeal, but IWC officials said that was not a factor in setting the later implementation date. If the repeal survives court and legislative challenges, California employers will be subject to the looser federal overtime standard, which requires overtime pay only when an employee puts in more than 40 hours in a week. The IWC decided last week to scrap daily overtime for hourly, nonunion employees in private-sector industries such as manufacturing, transportation and retailing. The decision also waives daily overtime for nonmanagement professional, technical, mechanical and clerical workers in the private sector.