California Appellate Tracker

Certified Tire & Service Centers Wage & Hour Cases

November 26, 2018

Defendant’s method of compensating its technicians—by giving each technician a base salary rate that was above the minimum wage but allowed the technician to increase his hourly rate by performing more production work that customers paid for during the workweek—did not violate California’s wage and hour laws, since each technician received an above-minimum wage rate for each hour worked.

This decision affirms a judgment holding that Certified Tire’s method of compensating its technicians did not violate California’s wage & hour laws. The compensation formula gave each technician a base salary rate that was above the minimum wage but allowed the technician to increase his hourly rate by performing more production work that customers paid for during the work week. Unlike Armenta v. Osmose, Inc. (2005) 135 Cal.App.4th 314 and Gonzalez v. Downtown LA Motors, LP (2013) 215 Cal.App.4th 36, the compensation formula paid the technician an above-minimum wage rate for each hour worked, including non-production work time and meal and rest break time, so it passed muster under California law—even though a worker might earn the same total amount by doing the same amount of production work in fewer total hours.

California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1 (Irion, J.); September 18, 2018 (published October 4, 2018); 28 Cal. App. 5th 1

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Certified Tire & Service Centers Wage & Hour Cases

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