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Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees must be paid overtime for all hours
worked over 40 hours in one work week. There is no federal overtime requirement for daily
hours worked in excess of 8 hours. The overtime rate is one and one-half of an employee's
regular rate.
Under federal law there is a "white collar exemption" to the minimum wage and overtime
requirements. Employees in the white collar categories are not entitled to guarantees of
minimum wage and they are not statutorily entitled to overtime for hours worked over 40 hours
in a week. To fit within the exemption, the employee must be an executive, an administrative or
professional employee. Typically, to meet the exemption, a white collar employee must be paid a
minimum salary of at least $455.00 per week.
An executive employee spends more than 50% of his or her time managing the business
and directing the work of two or more employees. An executive has the authority to hire, fire
and promote employees, and exercises discretionary power on a regular basis. An example of an
executive is branch manager, credit manager, foreman, office manager, or plant manager.
An administrative employee spends more than 50% of his or her time performing office
or non-manual work directly related to management operations. An administrative employee
regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment, regularly and directly assists an
executive, and performs specialized or technical work. An example of an administrative
employee is an assistant insurance adjuster, human resources manager or executive assistant.
A professional employee spends more than 50% of his or her time performing work that
requires advance training in a field of learning or artistic creativity. A professional must perform
work requiring advanced knowledge in a field or science which knowledge is acquired by a
prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction. An example of a professional employee
is an artist, pharmacist, lawyer, or doctor.
In addition to the white collar exemption, outside sales persons who are regularly away
from an employer's place of business making sales, and whose hours of non-selling work are not
more than 20% of the regular work week of a non-exempt employee are exempt from the
minimum wage and overtime requirements.
The Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor handles the investigation and
enforcement of the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. If you feel that you have not
received minimum wage or appropriate overtime, you can contact the Wage and Hour Division at
(814) 835-7283. It is located at 3939 West Ridge Road, Erie, Pennsylvania 16506.
If you need an attorney and don't have one, the Lawyer Referral and Information Service can help.
Call Us Monday - Friday from 8:30 AM - Noon and 1:15 PM - 3:00 PM
at (814) 459-4411. |
