If I’m a salaried employee and work approximately 65-70 hours, am I entitled to any overtime or other compensation for the additional hours?

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If I’m a salaried employee and work approximately 65-70 hours, am I entitled to any overtime or other compensation for the additional hours?

Asked on October 2, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, California

Answers:

SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney

Answered 6 years ago | Contributor

The issue is whether you are exempt from overtime or not. Not all salaried employees are exempt. To be exempt:
1) You must earn at least $23,600 per year in salary; AND
2) You job duties, responsibilities, and authority must meet one or more (there is overlap) of the tests or criteria for exemption, such as the "executive exemption" (which should really be called the "managerial exemption," since it applies to non-executive managers, too), "administrative exemption," "professional exemption," etc. You can find these exemptions on the U.S. Dept. of Labor website, under "overtime": look them up, and compare to your job. 
If your salary is too low or you do not meet at least one of the exemptions, then even though you are salaried, you are entitled to an overtime premium when you work more then 40 hours in a week. (E.g. to oversimplify: say you earn $600/week in salary, or an effective/equivalent hourly rate of $15.00; for each hour you work past 40 in a single week, you should be paid an additional premium of 50% of that effective rate, or an extra $7.50.) 
If you are not exempt but are not being paid overtime, try contacting your state or the federal department of labor; one of them should be able to help you get back overtime and also get overtime going forward. Alternatively, you could consult with an employment law attorney about bringing a lawsuit.


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