Overtime and Salary employees

[f1freak 0]

Does anyone know how this all works, or can point me to any place to find any info....

HAVE FUN...
...JUST DONT DIE

[dbattman 0]

It doesn't. Some companies will compensate employees on salary for extra time, others just grind you up into powder. There's no legal requirement for a company to pay overtime to a salaried employee.

In either case, keep track of all your hours. Vacation and time-off are between you and your manager and it's a good bargaining tool.

[f1freak 0]

***by - Carl Khalil, Esq.
June 05, 2002

If you are like most people, you have been led to believe that if you are an executive, professional or administrative employee, you are doomed to work 60 hours per week and receive no overtime pay for your efforts, just a set salary. However, it’s time to think again.

One study has estimated that $39 billion of overtime pay is owed to "salaried" employees in the United States who should actually be paid overtime at time and a half when they work over 40 hours in a week. If you are one of these salaried executives, professionals or administrators, often called "white collar" employees, you might be interested in knowing how likely it is that you may be entitled to a share of this money.

The "Title Game." First, there is the "title game." You have a big fancy executive or professional sounding title so your employer does not pay you overtime. Unfortunately for employers, federal overtime laws say that the job title is irrelevant; it is the actual work duties that control. For example, several current and former Waffle House Managers who regularly worked 80-100 hours per week were not paid overtime because they were called "Managers," which is typically an executive position and therefore exempt from overtime pay. However, in reality, the Managers spent most of their time waiting tables, cooking and washing dishes. Hence, they recently won an award of $2.86 million for unpaid overtime when a Tennessee court held they had been misclassified as executives.

The "Salary or Fee Basis" Rule. Second, even if you truly are a white collar employee under the overtime laws, you must be paid on a "salary basis" (often called the "no docking" rule) or the employer loses the exemption from owing overtime pay. For professionals and administrators, employers may also pay you on a "fee basis." If you are not paid according to the strict "salary or fee basis" rules, the employer must pay you for your overtime even if you truly are a white collar employee. These rules are frequently violated leading to enormous potential overtime exposure.

To be on a "salary basis" means that an employee is paid a set amount each week regardless of the hours they work, with some narrow exceptions. In one recent case, Pharmacists at Wal-Mart, who would normally not receive overtime pay as professionals, were sometimes told to go home early when work was slack, and had their pay reduced as a result. A Colorado court held that the "salary basis" rule was violated and the Pharmacists were owed overtime. In another case, former Managers at an auto parts store had their pay subject to deductions for cash shortages. Once again, an Ohio court held that the salary basis rule was violated and awarded unpaid overtime to the Managers.

The "fee basis" rule is rather simple. It means you are paid a flat fee to do a task regardless of how long the task takes. In a recent case, a professional home care nurse, Wendy Elwell, who regularly worked 60 hours per week, won over $50,000 plus her attorney’s fees when the court held that her compensation arrangement did not qualify for the "fee basis" rule because she was paid not only a set fee for home health care visits, but also additional compensation for lengthy visits.

Independent Contractors. Another area where misclassification commonly occurs is with independent contractors. If someone is under the control of the employer and not functioning as a true free lancer in business for herself, it is likely that she is really an employee, not an independent contractor. While contractors are not covered by overtime laws, employees sure are. In one recent case, a chauffeur at Bell Atlantic won an overtime award when the court ruled him to be an employee even though Bell Atlantic treated him like an independent contractor.

Overtime Remedies. Under federal law, an employee or ex-employee has two years to bring an overtime claim, three years for willful violations. Some states extend these times under their own overtime laws, and indeed grant broader overtime rights to employees than under federal law. Moreover, a successful employee will normally receive an award of DOUBLE their unpaid overtime, plus their attorney’s fees in pursuing the claim.

In sum, just because you are white collar and paid on a salary does NOT mean that you should not receive overtime pay. Because sometimes you most certainly should.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carl Khalil is a Virginia Beach, Virginia attorney and the founder of the website www.PayMyOvertime.com, which is devoted to helping employers and employees learn about their overtime rights and duties. Mr. Khalil is also the founder of www.BreakYourNonCompete.com, which has been featured on the NBC Today and in nationally syndicated career columns.

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HAVE FUN...
...JUST DONT DIE

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[jdhill 0]

Try searching for the Fair Labor Standards Act... It should spell out exempt v. non-exempt employees...

Exempt means they don't have to pay you overtime... non-exepemt means they do...

Josh

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. - Edmund Burke

[Zenister 0]

of course Exempt also means they have to pay you for 40 hours even when you work 20.

its up to you and your manager to come to an understanding on actual time spent at work depending on the load.

some weeks i've done 100+ hours..so I dont expect to get any shit when i'm not right under anyones thumb on the slow weeks...

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[f1freak 0]

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of course Exempt also means they have to pay you for 40 hours even when you work 20.

See thats an issue....
Here if we want to take a little time off and we have used all vacation time then they dock our pay, so i am just looking at how they want to play the game and if i am getting screwd and paying for the lube....

HAVE FUN...
...JUST DONT DIE

[Zenister 0]

Exempt employees are allowed unlimited personal time (aka sick leave etc..) the company may have a policy about keeping it to a certain amount for managerial/accounting reasons, but legally (its my understanding at least, this has come up a time or two) they have to give it to you as long as you worked a portion of that week. If you dont work at all in the 40 hour week then they can make you take unpaid leave.

check with your HR dept (if your with a large enough company to have one) they should have all the govt regulations and company policies..

be aware salary doesnt always mean Exempt for federal standards depending on the terms of your employment.

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[f1freak 0]

the company is small and all of the top dogs are VERY tight....
so i need to look outside the company for this one i think...

HAVE FUN...
...JUST DONT DIE