Rules for OT for salaried employees?

[isis297]

NY - Could you tell me what the rules are for salaried employees? Is there a limit as to how many hours they can work in a week before there being a potential issue because they've worked "too many"?

Most weeks they shouldn't be off by too much, maybe a few hours, but weeks like this week, we have had a lot to take care of so the hours will be off quite a bit.

 

[justalayman]

There is no limit to how many hours a salaried or hourly employee can work unless there is a specific industry regulation. All that matters is whether they are paid properly for the hours worked.

Salary itself is meaningless. What matters is whether a person is exempt or non exempt from the overtime rules. Whether you can legally be classified exempt depends on your job duties. So, to start with, what are your job duties?

 

[cbg]

There are not rules about overtime for salaried workers. That's because salaried is not what matters. What matters is exempt or non-exempt. Not all salaried workers are exempt; not all exempt workers are salaried.

If you are salaried exempt, then it doesn't matter if you work 168 hours a week, you are not due a single penny of overtime. That's what being exempt means - you are exempt from overtime.

If you are salaried non-exempt, then you are due overtime if you work over 40 hours in a week, just like any other non-exempt employee. A very few states require overtime after 8 hours in a day, but NY is not one of the few.

Two states, neither of them NY, limit the number of hours a non-exempt employee can work in a week/pay period. A few more require one day off in every seven. NY is one of those states, but only for employees in certain industries. I am not aware of any laws specific to salaried employees limiting the number of hours that can be worked.

 

[justalayman]

Two states, neither of them NY, limit the number of hours a non-exempt employee can work in a week/pay period.

For my own edification would you care to name them? While the one day off in seven rule can effectively limit the number of hours worked, I’m not familiar with any states that specifically limit the number of hours worked thst is not based in a specific occupation.


btw: there is federal law that limits certain people from working beyond a certain number of hours per week. I am currently allowed to work no more then 54 hours per week averaged over a rolling 6 week period. Under very limited conditions (particular events at my work place) I am allowed to work up to 72 hours per week average over a 6 week rolling period.


These are very industry specific rules though

 

[cbg]

I'm going to rephrase slightly. In Maine and California, there are laws that prohibit an employer from firing an employee for refusal to work more than x hours in a week/pay period. An employee may voluntarily work more hours, but if the employee refuses, the employer can't take any disciplinary action. I should mention that x is 80 hours of overtime in a two week period in Maine, and 72 hours a week overall in California, so the employee can still incur quite a lot of hours before they have protection.

And yes, there are industry specific exceptions at both the state and Federal level, but not an across the board protection that applies regardless.

 

[isis297]

I didn't know how to tag both of you so hopefully you both will see this.

So we are general contractors. The person in question right now is a Project Superintendent. He is in the field doing hands on as needed, supervising the other workers, making sure the projects are flowing smoothly, etc.

It is my understanding salary-wise you have to make less than $33K a year to not be able to be classified as exempt based on pay amount and he is well over that.

 

[cbg]

To qualify as exempt, the employee must make a minimum guaranteed salary of $455 a week or more. (some states have higher thresholds). If you make less than that, you are automatically non-exempt. If you make more than that, then your job duties and only your job duties determine whether you are exempt or non-exempt.

You have not given us enough detail about his job duties to say one way or the other. Based on what you've given us, I could make the case either way. You're going to need to be more specific.

 

[HRZ]

NY has its own state specific minimums that vary considerably by county and are adjusted perhaps annually. that address the minimum salary that must be in place to be considered exempt for administrative or professional positions ...and in some counties it is well above 33k a year.....do some deeper digging and or provide more specifics .

 

[eerelations]

Regarding job duty details, some of what we'd need to know would be:

1. What does "hands-on" mean? Manual labour? Or making spreadsheets?
2. If manual labour, what percentage (approximate) of his weekly time does he spend performing manual labour?
3. Regarding "supervising the other workers" is he the boss of these workers? Can he discipline them? Does he have strong input into their hiring and firing?
4. And finally, does he earn more than $455 per week?

 

[cbg]

https://www.completepayroll.com/the-guide-to-new-york-state-minimum-wage-and-overtime-salary-threshold-increases

 

[isis297]

Regarding job duty details, some of what we'd need to know would be:

1. What does "hands-on" mean? Manual labour? Or making spreadsheets?
2. If manual labour, what percentage (approximate) of his weekly time does he spend performing manual labour?
3. Regarding "supervising the other workers" is he the boss of these workers? Can he discipline them? Does he have strong input into their hiring and firing?
4. And finally, does he earn more than $455 per week?

1. Yes manual labor if needed. We are general contractors so we do additions, renovations, roofing, fencing, whatever is needed.
2. I'm not sure about the percentage. I'd have to ask my boss what he sees that being. What is the threshold?
3. Yes, he is their supervisor. He can discipline them. Yes.
4. Yes. Quite a bit more.

 

[cbg]

There is no specific percentage i.e. if you do x% of manual labor it does/does not violate the exemption. There used to be, but not any longer. Now it's the primary duty that rules. If the primary duty of the employee is as a supervisor/manager, then he is exempt even if he does occasional manual labor. There isn't an exempt job going that doesn't have some "non-exempt" duties attached to it.

 

[isis297]

There is no specific percentage i.e. if you do x% of manual labor it does/does not violate the exemption. There used to be, but not any longer. Now it's the primary duty that rules. If the primary duty of the employee is as a supervisor/manager, then he is exempt even if he does occasional manual labor. There isn't an exempt job going that doesn't have some "non-exempt" duties attached to it.

Ok, yes. His primary job is to supervise/manage the projects and the workers. Thank you all.

 

[eerelations]

1. Yes manual labor if needed. We are general contractors so we do additions, renovations, roofing, fencing, whatever is needed.
2. I'm not sure about the percentage. I'd have to ask my boss what he sees that being. What is the threshold?
3. Yes, he is their supervisor. He can discipline them. Yes.
4. Yes. Quite a bit more.

So it appears this guy's job is salaried exempt. Just like all other jobs, there is no limit to the number of hours he can work in any given week. The only difference between him and the hourly non-exempt jobs is that he's not legally entitled to OT pay. (If you choose to pay him OT pay that's at your discretion, but you are not legally required to pay him anything at all for any hours he works above 40 in any given week.)

 

[cbg]

I want to rephrase eerelations' comment above. 40 hours a week has no meaning for exempt employees, who are not paid on the basis of the hours they work. Exempt employees are paid on the basis of the value of their position to the company. With limited exceptions (and I can list them if you want me to) they get paid the same whether they worked 10 hours, 32 hours, or 85.92 hours. The number of hours is simply irrelevant. It's not that they don't get paid for hours over 40; it's that their salary covers all hours, regardless of how many or how few.