Manager and Executive Overtime Laws

State and federal wage and hour laws require almost all employees to be paid overtime for hours worked in excess of 12 per day or 40 per week. This general rule even applies to most salaried employees. For certain salaried employees, however, the law allows an exemption from overtime for certain high-level “executives”. Unfortunately, this “executive exemption” is abused by many employers who treat lower level management such as assistant managers and/or supervisors as executives in order to avoid overtime pay.

Generally, to qualify for the exemption, a particular employee: 1) must be paid on a salary basis (with no changes to that salary based on, for example, missing days of work); 2) must supervise at least two full-time employees; and 3) must spend at least fifty percent of his or her time performing managerial functions. Application of the executive exemption is a complex issue so, if you think your employer may be violating the law, please contact us for a free and confidential case evaluation.