This week’s question: AM I ENTITLED TO OVERTIME PAY?
QUESTION: I am salaried employee. Lately, I have been required to work an extraordinary amount of additional hours. When I asked for overtime pay, my boss turned me down. Am I entitled to overtime pay?
ANSWER: It depends. Some salaried employees are not entitled to overtime pay, but others are. “Exempt employees” are not entitled to overtime pay, while “non-exempt employees” usually are. If you are properly classified as an exempt employee, then the most important part of your job performance should consist of supervisory and management duties. Where management or supervisory employees concurrently perform both management and non-management responsibilities, the employee may still be considered exempt if his or her primary duty consists of management responsibilities. The salary of an exempt employee must meet a certain minimum level, and must be more than minimum wage.
On the other hand, many employees are improperly classified as exempt and should be paid overtime for overtime hours. The federal government is currently reviewing the rules for exempt and non-exempt employees. Those employees who are MINO (“managers in name only) but whose duties primarily consists of non-management or “lead” type work, should most likely be classified as non-exempt and receive overtime time for overtime hours worked.
Your specific situation will depend on the nature of your job duties and how much time you actually spend performing managerial duties, not just what is listed on your job description. If you believe you are improperly classified as an exempt employee or a MINO and are entitled to overtime, a consultation with a lawyer to discuss your job duties and current salary may lead to an increase in your take-home pay.
The lawyers at GWINN TAURIAINEN PLLC are experienced attorneys and are happy to answer your questions. Give us a call for a free initial telephone consultation about your legal needs. For consideration of your questions in our web column, please submit your inquiry on the “Contact Us” page of our website at www.gwinntauriainenlaw.com.