The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) has many provisions within it to ensure an employee who works overtime gets paid premium pay for overtime hours. While there isn’t a limit when it comes to the amount of hours an employee can work in any given week, many employers aren’t aware that the FLSA doesn’t require overtime pay for any work done on weekends or holidays.
Employees may work for an hourly wage, salary, commission or other basis, but the overtime rate remains consistent across the board. The FLSA is very strict when it comes to overtime pay requirements, so employers need to be current on the rules and guidelines in order to avoid having to locate a New York attorney to deal with a disgruntled employee.
Minimum Overtime Pay Rate
No matter what an employee’s standard rate is, any overtime hours worked must be calculated at a rate of at least time and one-half of their standard rate. Again, this rate must be paid on the basis of a normal work week, not including holidays, weekends, vacation days or other days of rest.
Time Period For Overtime Pay
Any employment lawyers in NYC can give you examples of the various workweeks employers have for their employees. Some work longer shifts, but fewer days, while others may operate on a seven-day workweek. A workweek can begin and end at any time, as set forth by an employer. As such, different employees within a company may operate on different schedules as well. Regardless of the circumstances, any overtime pay must be calculated and paid for the specific pay period as set forth in the employment agreement. It is not permitted to average hours across multiple weeks at any time.
Complications With Overtime Pay
Employers have to deal with and understand certain complications with overtime pay that may require an NYC law firm to explain. One of those complications is with an employee who works on a salary. Even though the employee is salary, they are still entitled to overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week. Their weekly salary would have to be divided by 40 to determine their hourly rate. Then their hourly rate has to be multiplied by 1.5 times. The resulting number is the employee’s overtime rate and they would need to be paid that rate for any hour exceeding 40 in a given workweek.
Another example of a case employment lawyers in NYC deal with is employers that announce no overtime is permitted. Employers can put policies in place about not wanting employees to work overtime, but an employee still must be paid the overtime rate if they work more than 40 hours in a week. An announcement or policy does not mean overtime pay can be waived, in accordance with the FLSA.
At Gordon & Gordon, our team is experienced and knowledgeable when it comes to all facets of the FLSA. We have many years of experience dealing with the overtime pay requirements and working with employers to help them understand the FLSA. Feel free to contact a New York attorney at Gordon & Gordon any time you have a question about the FLSA or overtime pay requirements in general.