Reminder: being salaried (by itself) does NOT make you exempt from overtime!
We were reminded just today that there remains a ton of confusion about who gets overtime pay and who doesn’t!
Today we spoke with a young lady who thought for sure that since she was salaried, she didn’t get overtime. While it is (usually) required that someone be salaried in order to be exempt from overtime pay, that’s not the only thing that matters! Generally an employee also has to meet another test, most commonly a “duties” test like the executive, administrative, or professional test.
Don’t assume that you’re exempt from overtime just because you’re salaried!!!
It’s worth a free 20 minute phone call to do a quick evaluation. If you don’t manage other employees, and you’re not making super-important decisions for the business, and you’re not a professional like a doctor (not a nurse!), architect, accountant, etc., you may be entitled to one-and-one-half times your regular rate (salary divided by hours) for each hour you work over 40 in a single workweek.
You can reach back and cover two years of unpaid overtime - sometimes even three!
In addition to getting the wages that your’e entitled to, you may also be entitled to liquidated damages, doubling the amount that your employer owes you. After all, we want employers to have incentives to do it right the first time, don’t we?
Bonus - employer has to pay YOUR attorney’s fees (and their own) when you win.