By Attorney Jacquelyn Roof
Attention All Employees and Employers: On January 1, 2020, new federal overtime rules went into effect that could apply to you! The United States Department of Labor issued new rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) that expand employees’ eligibility for overtime pay. If an employee makes a salary of $35,568 or less per year, and if that employee works more than 40 hours in any given workweek, then the employee shall receive at least time-and-a-half payments for overtime work. The old rule had the salary capped at $23,660 per year.
It is important to note that the FLSA does not limit the total number of hours an employee aged 16 and older may work in a workweek, and it also does not limit the total number of overtime hours that may be scheduled.
Employees: If your employer told you that no overtime work is permitted or paid for unless authorized in advance, it does not impair your right to compensation for the overtime hours that you worked. Additionally, you and your employer cannot sign an agreement waiving your ability to receive overtime pay. If your annual salary is $35,568 ($684 per week) or less, you work over 40 hours in any given workweek and you do not qualify as an exemption, then you can receive at least time-and-a-half payments for your overtime work.
Employers: There are exemptions to this overtime rule. If you have any employees that are bona fide executive, administrative, professional, computer or outside sales employees, then the overtime rule does not apply to them if they meet certain requirements. For example, an administrative employee’s primary duties must involve office or non-manual work directly related to the employer’s business operations and must include discretion and independent judgment on significant matters. It is also worth noting that employers do not have to pay overtime to employees solely because they work on Sundays or holidays.
The new federal rules provide minimum standards that must be followed. Pennsylvania employers must also comply with Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Act, and must always follow the rule, either federal or state, that provides the greater benefit to their employees.
Later this year, Pennsylvania could have new overtime regulations that exceed the new federal rules. Governor Wolf is pushing to expand Pennsylvania employees’ eligibility for overtime pay beyond the new federal thresholds. On January 31, 2020, Pennsylvania’s Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) approved the Department of Labor and Industry’s final regulation that, if it takes effect, will increase the salary cap by 2022 to $45,500 per year ($875 per week) for overtime pay. The Attorney General has thirty days to approve the regulation, and if approved, will go into effect later this year.
