Ohio Overtime Attorney Best Answer: Should I Be Getting Paid Overtime Even Though I Am Salaried? Am I Paid Enough To Not Be Entitled To Overtime? Is There Ever A Raise To The Minimum Salary Requirement?
When we hear people talking about raising the minimum wage, we usually think of hourly workers. However, there is a minimum wage for most exempt employees as well. That is, in order to be considered an exempt employee, one requirement for each of the exempt catagories is a minimum salary. Whether we are talking about the administrative exemption, the executive exemption, or the professional exemption, they all share one requirement in common – a minimum wage of at least $455.00 a week, or $23,660.00 a year. Thus, if you are not making $23,660.00 per year, your job has to pay you overtime.
This low salary level has been a boon to many employers, who can avoid paying overtime to their employees while still paying them fairly low wages. Thanks to the Obama administration, many of the lowest paid exempt employees will soon get a raise, or become eligible for overtime.
Last spring, President Obama directed the Department of Labor (“DOL“) to begin looking into reforming the current exemptions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA“) . Because the FLSA specifically empowers the DOL to define the scope of the administrative, executive, and professional exemptions, Obama and the DOL do not need congressional approval to reform these exemptions. Thus far, most analyst expect the DOL to raise the minimum salary from its current level to anywhere between $46,000 a year and $52,000 a year, some congressional Democrats have called for the new minimum to fall somewhere between $56,000 a year and $69,000 a year.
As a result, millions of exempt employees can expect to start earning more, or working less. Employers with exempt employees who make under the new amount will either have to raise those employees salaries or convert them to hourly employees, and pay them overtime. Of course, employers may just hire more workers and cut current worker salaries.
In addition to raising the minimum salary requirement, the DOL is also looking making several other changes, such as tying the minimum salary to inflation, and narrowing the requirements of the exemptions to make it more difficult to qualify certain employees as exempt. For example, the DOL may require that exempt employees spend at least 50% of their time performing exempt duties, rather than just some of their time. Thus, a manager at a fast food restaurant who spends a majority of their time working in the restaurant, rather than managing, would no longer be exempt from overtime just because they perform limited management duties.
The overtime lawyers at Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm will be following these developments closely, as they are sure to have far-reaching implications throughout the nation.
If you believe that your employer is not paying you all of your wages for all of your lawfully earned overtime compensation at a rate of one and half times your normal wages as requires under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act or Ohio Minimum Fair Wage Standards laws or you are an nonexempt employee that has been misclassified as exempt or independent contractor, contact the attorneys at Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm today for a free and confidential initial consultation. The wage and hour lawyers at Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm will provide you with the best options for your overtime pay dispute situation. If you even think that you may be entitled to overtime pay that you are not being paid, call 866-797-6040.
Disclaimer:
The materials available at the top of this overtime, wage and hour web page and at this employment law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. If you are still asking, “Am I entitled to overtime?”, “Does my job have to pay me for …”, “My paycheck is not right…” or “What do I do if…”, the your best option is to contact an Ohio overtime attorney to obtain advice with respect to FLSA questions or any particular employment law issue. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship. The legal opinions expressed at the top of this page or through this site are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm, Brian Spitz, or any individual attorney.