Physicians and Surgeons Overtime Exemption Rates

California Labor Code section 515.6 exempts certain licensed physicians and surgeons from overtime compensation upon receipt of specified minimum hourly compensation.

California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has announced its rate increase for this minimum, effective January 1, 2022, to $91.07, up from $86.49, reflecting the 5.3% increase in the California Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.

To avoid California overtime premium rates, employers will need to pay such eligible professionals that minimum hourly rate, keeping accurate track of hours worked.

An exempt physician or surgeon must also meet each of the Labor Code section 515.6 skills and duties criteria. Among these, the employee must be “primarily engaged” (more than 50% of the time) in duties requiring licensure.

California Business and Professions Code section 2052 specifies such duties, requiring a medical license for anyone who “diagnoses, treats, operates for, or prescribes for any ailment, blemish, deformity, disease, disfigurement, disorder, injury, or other physical or mental condition of any person.”

Physicians and surgeons paid on a salary basis will not qualify for this exemption, but may otherwise qualify for the administrative, executive or “learned profession” exemptions from overtime. Each category possesses its own distinct requirements.

For more information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

Cindy Bamforth
December 2, 2021