Wages and Benefits Information Center

Wages and Overtime

We go to work every day to earn money to support ourselves and our families. Monetary compensation influences heavily which jobs we pick, whether we work or retire and where we live. Federal and state governments have enacted many laws to protect your interest in receiving fair pay for your hard work. An experienced employment law attorney can help you take advantage of the protections offered by those laws.

Minimum Wage Requirements

For 10 years, federal law required that most employees received a wage of at least $5.15 per hour. The federal minimum wage was finally raised by the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007 to $5.85 per hour on July 24, 2007. The Act provides for additional 70-cent increases on the same date each in 2008 and 2009. Some states have set the minimum wage at a higher level. If a state has set a higher minimum than the federal standard, the higher state minimum wage applies. The state minimum wage would also apply to most workers not covered by the federal standard.

Federal law and some state laws allow employers to pay a lower minimum wage, sometimes called a training wage, to certain teenage employees under 20 years of age. Under federal law, this lower wage may be paid only for the first 90 days of employment and an employer may not terminate or displace a worker who is paid more in order to be able to pay the lower wage to a new hire. Federal law also establishes a special minimum wage formula for employees who earn regular tips and for certain workers with disabilities.

Overtime

Generally, federal law requires that most employees receive overtime pay for any time worked over 40 hours in any workweek. The rate of overtime pay is one-and-one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay. Employees who are eligible may not waive their right to overtime pay.

Exempt Employees

The main federal law establishing wage and overtime standards is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA). Employees protected by the FSLA are referred to as nonexempt employees; employees falling outside the scope of the Act are called exempt employees. Exempt employees do not benefit from the FLSA minimum wage and overtime requirements.

Exempt employees include certain types of white-collar employees, such as administrative, professional, executive and outside sales. Other types of exempt employees include some computer personnel, certain highly compensated individuals, some agricultural workers, apprentices, babysitters, some workers with disabilities and particular other types of employees. Your employer should act carefully when deciding whether you or one of your colleagues falls into an exempt category because the FSLA is supposed to cast a wide net and is subject to broad, not narrow, interpretation.

Conclusion

All employers and employees should be aware of wage and overtime laws. These laws and the regulations that interpret them can be difficult to understand and apply to your situation. A knowledgeable employment law attorney can give you all the information you need about these laws and regulations.

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