Alvarado v. Dart Container Corp. of Cal., 243 Cal. App. 4th 1200 (2016)

According to Dart’s written policy, a $15 attendance bonus would be paid to any employee who was scheduled to work a weekend shift and completed the full shift. Hector Alvarado challenged Dart’s calculation of overtime payments and sued for violations of the Labor Code and the Private Attorneys’ General Act (PAGA). The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Dart on the ground that there is no California law applicable to calculating overtime on attendance bonuses paid in the same period in which they were earned while distinguishing a prior appellate court opinion and rejecting as “void” and without the force of law two sections of the DLSE Manual (Sections 49.2.4.2 and 42.2.4.3). The Court of Appeal affirmed, holding that Dart’s use of the federal formula for computing overtime on flat-sum bonuses is lawful.