Overtime Pay May Be Required for Salaried Employees Considered Exempt

The recent labor law violations uncovered at Ithaca Trader K’s (http://ithacavoice.com/2014/11/trader-ks-found-violate-nys-wage-law/) highlight the importance of understanding the difference between exempt and non-exempt employees with respect to overtime payments. Many people classified as managers or administrators, and paid on a salaried basis, are not exempt from the requirement to also receive overtime pay (for working over 40 hours in a week).

The Tompkins County Workers’ Center has a factsheet from the NYS Department of Labor that we would be happy to send anyone (contact us at tcwrh@tcworkerscenter.org or 269-0409) but the key point is that an employee covered by NYS labor law must meet certain criteria to qualify for the administrative/managerial employee exemption. Perhaps the most important of these criteria is that the employee must be paid not less than $600/week ($31,200/year). If paid less than $600/week ($656.25 as of January 1, 2015) such an employee would be entitled to overtime (time and a half) for all hours worked over 40.

The other main criterion is that you must actually be performing the duties of an exempt employee. If your duties are not those of a bona fide exempt employee your employer cannot evade the overtime requirement by paying you a salary (and not paying overtime) regardless of how much your salary is. Those duties are also described in the factsheet referenced above and available upon request.