Underwriters in California and Overtime Pay

If you are an underwriter in California you may be entitled to overtime pay. Employees working under this job title have litigated this issue in a case called Davis v. J.P. Morgan. The second circuit ruled that underwriters are indeed entitled to overtime based upon th duties they perform and noted that these duties were performed under established company guidelines entitling them overtime pay.

Many do not know that under federal regulations, if an underwriter works in a bona fide administrative capacity if they perform work "directly related to management policies or general business operations" and "customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment."  This is in opposition to an employee who performs work in a "production' or, in a retail or service establishment, performing 'sales' work."

In the case at hand, the underwriters at Chase were primarily responsible for providing loan products under the management's guidelines. The court commented, "Underwriters were given a loan application and followed procedures specified in the Credit Guide in order to produce a yes or no decision."

This case and others like it pave the way for California underwriters to seek their overtime pay. If the California judiciary decides to be persuaded by this ruling and others like it, thousands of California underwriters could be entitled to overtime pay.  Among the largest banking institutions who employ underwriters in California are Citigroup (NYSE: C) ,

If you are an underwriter in California you could be owed overtime pay due to misclassification. If this is the case, you may collect up to 4 years of back pay under the California overtime pay laws.

To determine if you are entitled to overtime pay working as an underwriter you should speak to a California labor law attorney.