In Florida, Do You Have to Pay an Exempt Employee Overtime?
- Exempt means the employee is excluded from the Fair Labor Standards Act's overtime pay provisions. To be classified as exempt, a Florida employee must meet the FLSA standards for exempt. This includes meeting the act's job duties requirements specific to the employee's occupation, and in most cases, a salary level test. As Florida employer, to classify salaried employees as exempt, you must pay them no less than $455 per week and ensure that each meets the FLSA job duties requirements.
- Since exempt employees are excluded from FLSA overtime pay requirements, you do not have to pay them overtime. For example, you do not have to pay overtime to executive, administrative and professional employees who meet the act's exempt criteria.
- The Fair Labor Standards Act regards overtime hours as work hours that exceed 40 for the week. If an exempt employee normally works 40 hours per week but happens to work 45 hours one week, you do not have to pay her overtime for the extra hours. However, you are supposed to pay nonexempt employees who work more than 40 hours overtime wages at 1.5 times their regular pay rate. Nonexempt employees are not excluded from FLSA overtime pay requirements and therefore qualify for overtime if they work such hours. A salaried worker who does not meet FLSA exempt criteria is nonexempt and should receive overtime for work hours exceeding 40 for the week.
- In March 2011, the U. S. Department of Labor announced that a Florida-based company was guilty of misclassifying employees. The violation resulted in the employer agreeing to pay $754,578 in overtime back wages to 89 present and former workers who had been classified as exempt instead of nonexempt. Contact your local wage and hour division for guidance to ensure proper classification.