Generally, employees must be paid time and a half their regular pay for overtime worked above 40 hours per week. Existing DOL (Department of Labor) regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act generally require each of the following three tests to be met for employees to be considered exempt from this overtime pay law:
1. Salary basis test: the employee must be paid a predetermined and fixed salary that is
not subject to reduction because of variations in the quality or quantity of work performed.
2. Salary level test: the amount of salary paid must meet a minimum specified amount.
3. Duties test: the employee's job duties must primarily involve executive, administrative or
professional duties as defined by the DOL regulations.
Highly compensated employees earning an amount above an annual threshold of $455 per week or $23,660 per year are exempt. A Texas judge recently ruled that the DOL cannot simply apply salary levels in determining an employee's exempt status and as such, it's recent regulations that were set in place to increase the threshold (double) was blocked and was sent back to the DOL's drawing boards.
There are, for example, other exempt classifications such as airline employees, outside sales persons, most people working with advanced education and skilled trades, and administrative and operations-type management type employees.
Nevertheless, it is a good idea to check with your State's laws and review these overtime laws to make sure you are in compliance.
