Overtime

Basics

Employees covered by the overtime provisions of the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must be paid at least one and one-half times their regular wage rate for any hours over 40 in a work week. The FLSA imposes no limit on overtime hours, and it does not protect workers against reprisal for declining overtime hours.  FLSA coverage is subject to a tangle of occupational exemptions, many of which were broadened by new Department of Labor Rules in 2004. These “administrative, executive, and professional” exemptions apply to salaried workers—such as fast food or retail managers, preschool teachers, or financial sector employees—who earn as little as $23,600 a year.

Many states (18) have no overtime law, while the rest have legislative language that closely mimics the federal law and its exemptions [click here for map].  A few states have more favorable overtime rules, including a few that follow the narrower, pre-2004 standard for “white collar” exemptions, a few that carve out protections against mandatory overtime for specific occupations such as nursing, and a few that mandate a daily overtime standard (overtime pay for working more than 8 hours, regardless of the hours worked that week).

Current Landscape

Against the thresholds set by federal law, state policy revolves around three issues: occupational and hourly coverage, enforcement, and worker protection.  A few states (but only a few) offer broader coverage of groups exempted under federal law--such as agricultural, domestic or home health care workers.  And a few states have taken steps to reign in the willful misclassification of employees (reliance on contractors or temporary agencies to obscure or avoid a conventional employment relationship).  Another major battle ground is enforcement.  Failure to pay overtime to covered workers is a form of wage theft.  But resources for enforcement are dwindling and, even when employers are caught, the penalties are often little more than a slap on the wrist.  The 2009 study Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers, surveyed more than 4,000 workers in low-wage industries in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York, and found that and 76 percent had either been underpaid or not paid at all for their overtime hours..  For more on these issues, see the National Employment Law Project’s comprehensive guide, Winning Wage Justice (2011).

FAQ

Who is entitled to overtime pay?

The answer, in a perfect world, would be “almost everybody.”  But American overtime policy is riddled with loopholes and exemptions.  The standard under federal law is a 40 hour weekly threshold--leaving unregulated (and often uncompensated) overtime hours worked on a given day, or on weekends.  And many low-wage salaried jobs (retail or fast food management, for example) are among the extensive occupational exemptions.

Isn’t overtime voluntary?

No.  Many workers faced “mandatory overtime,” when employers threaten job loss of other reprisals for those not willing to take up the extra hours.

 

Learn More

The best source for recent research, legislation, and campaigns is the National Employment Law Project (NELP).  See also the work of the Economic Policy Institute, and the AFL-CIO.

 

Recent Research Highlights

A Green Career Pathways Framework: Postsecondary and Employment Success for Low-Income, Disconnected Youth

Added August 22, 2011 Source: COWS
Issue: Green Jobs, Minimum Wage, Other, Overtime, The Great Recession, Wage Theft, Workforce Development
State: Wisconsin

By: Terry Grobe, Kate O’Sullivan, Sally T. Prouty, with Sarah White This paper explores the extent to which this emerging green economy can offer a pathway out of poverty for low-income young people, many of whom have disengaged from school and are struggling to find a way into the economic mainstream. These disconnected youth —

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Better Jobs for In-Home Direct Care Workers

Added August 22, 2011 Source: COWS
Issue: Family Leave, Health Care, Minimum Wage, Overtime, Paid Sick Leave, Paycheck Protection, Retirement Security, Spotlight on Inequality, Wage Theft, Workforce Development
State: Wisconsin

By: Laura Dresser and Adrienne Pagac Direct care workers labor in the homes of the elderly, frail, and people with disabilities, to provide them with critical hands-on care and support to lead independed lives. This paper offers data on the in-home direct care workforce, wages and benefits in those jobs, and discusses issues related to working conditions

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Cities and Jobs: Local Strategies for Improving Job Quality and Access

Added August 22, 2011 Source: COWS
Issue: Minimum Wage, Other, Overtime, Paycheck Protection, Prevailing Wages, Wage Theft
State: Wisconsin

By: Pablo Mitnik In spite of the extraordinarily high productivity of U.S workers, a large share of the country’s workers hold bad jobs. These low-wage workers are not mainly teenagers without economic responsibilities, as is often claimed. Most are adults, most are married or have been married, and there is good evidence that the low

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Research Summary: Wisconsin public-sector workers are under-compensated compared to their private-sector counterparts

Added August 22, 2011 Source: COWS
Issue: Health Care, Minimum Wage, Overtime, Paycheck Protection, Prevailing Wages, Project Labor Agreements, Public Sector Bargaining, Retirement Security, Right to Work, Spotlight on Inequality, The Great Recession, Unemployment Insurance, Wage Theft, What Do Unions Do?
State: Wisconsin

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States Provide Minimum Wage and Overtime to Home Care Workers (October 13, 2011)

Added November 17, 2011 Source: national employment law project
Issue: Contingent Workers and Misclassification, Minimum Wage, Overtime
State: General Interest, National

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The State of Working North Carolina: A Fair Day’s Pay for a Fair Day’s Work (September 2011)

Added April 9, 2012 Source: North Carolina Budget and Tax Center
Issue: Minimum Wage, Overtime, Wage Theft
State: North Carolina

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Wage Theft In Iowa (September 2012)

Added September 17, 2012 Source: Iowa Policy Project
Issue: Contingent Workers and Misclassification, Income Security, Minimum Wage, Overtime, Spotlight on Inequality, Wage Theft
State: Iowa

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