LOS ANGELES (AP) — The California Supreme Court says state overtime laws protect nonresident employees of California firms who are in the state on business trips.

California firms have usually paid employees in accordance with the labor laws of the states where they live.

Experts tell the Los Angeles Times that Thursday’s unanimous state Supreme Court decision will likely reduce business travel to the state and quickly lead to hundreds of lawsuits against California companies.

The high court says Californians will now be protected from being replaced by less-expensive temporary workers from out of state.

The ruling came in a case brought against the Oracle software company by employees who live in Arizona and Colorado. They wanted to benefit from California’s generous overtime law during business trips.

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