What is the minimum salary requirement under the California computer/software-related professional exemption?

California  Labor Code Section 515.5 provides that certain computer software employees are exempt from overtime pay if particular criteria are met. One of the required criteria is that the employee's rate of pay not be less than a certain threshold dollar amount. Effective Jan. 1, 2021, an employer can choose to pay an exempt computer software employee an hourly rate of at least $47.48 per hour or a salary of at least $8,242.32 per month ($98,907.70 annually). The Office of Policy, Research and Legislation (OPRL) is responsible for adjusting this pay rate on Oct. 1 of each year to be effective on Jan. 1 of the following year by an amount equal to the percentage increase in the California Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers. Employers should be sure to look for this annual adjustment.

An employee may only be considered exempt from overtime pay under the computer/software-related professional exemption if he or she meets all of the requirements set forth by California Labor Code Section 515.5. In addition to the minimum compensation requirement, an employee in the computer/software field is considered to be exempt only if all of the following conditions apply:

• The employee is primarily engaged in work that is intellectual or creative.
• The employee is engaged in work that requires the exercise of discretion and independent judgment.

• The employee is primarily engaged in duties that consist of one or more of the following:
• • Responsible for applying systems analysis techniques and procedures, including consulting with users, to determine hardware, software or system functional specifications.
  • Responsible for designing, developing, documenting, analyzing, creating, testing or modifying computer systems or programs, including prototypes, based on and related to user or system design specifications.
  • Responsible for documenting, testing, creating or modifying computer programs related to the design of software or hardware for computer operating systems.

• The employee is highly skilled and proficient in the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized information to computer systems analysis, programming and software engineering.

However, the above exemption does not apply to an employee if any of the following conditions apply:

1. The employee is a trainee or an employee in an entry-level position and is learning to become proficient in the theoretical and practical application of highly specialized information to computer systems analysis, programming and software engineering.
2. The employee is in a computer-related occupation but has not attained the level of skill and expertise necessary to work independently and without close supervision.
3. The employee is engaged in the operation of computers or in the manufacturing, repair or maintenance of computer hardware and related equipment.
4. The employee is an engineer, drafter, machinist or other professional whose work is highly dependent on or facilitated by the use of computers and computer software programs and who is skilled in computer-aided design software, including CAD/CAM, but who is not in a computer systems analysis or programming occupation.
5. The employee is a writer engaged in writing material, including box labels, product descriptions, documentation, promotional material, setup and installation instructions, and other similar written information, either for print or for onscreen media or who writes or provides content material intended to be read by customers, subscribers or visitors to computer-related media such as the Internet or CD-ROMs.
6. The employee is engaged in any of the activities set forth in numbers 1 through 4 above for the purpose of creating imagery for effect used in the motion picture, television or theatrical industry.