Who gets paid overtime?
BZZZ. Wrong! 
A lot—really a lot—of employers and employees are misinformed about overtime. This is important because the Department of Labor is proposing updates to the rules governing overtime, and with the implementation of the new rules (scheduled for this summer) will come increased enforcement.
Know your rights—and responsibilities.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) requires private employers to pay overtime for hours worked over 40 in a week unless the employee is exempt. This very simple statement has several important details.

Public employers have different rules than private employers. The government is allowed to let employees collect and use comp time instead of paying overtime. Private employers do NOT have this privilege. Simply not allowed.

There are rules for determining who is exempt. These rules are commonly misunderstood and misapplied. Many people think that if an employee is salaried, i.e., paid a certain amount per month or week, they are automatically exempt. This is another misconception.

Who is exempt and who is non-exempt? That is the question. The question is answered by the DOL here.

The first test an employee must meet to be considered exempt is the employee must be compensated on a salary basis at a rate not less than $455 per week ($23,660/annually). This amount has not been regularly adjusted since it was first set. In fact, the biggest change the DOL is proposing is to raise the standard to $970 per week/$50,440 per year with annual adjustments. Experts predict that 4.6 million workers will automatically and immediately lose their exempt status when the rule is implemented.

The next test an employee must meet to be considered exempt is to fall into one of certain categories of workers. These are currently described as executive, administrative, professional, computer and outside sales. However, these one-word descriptions can be misleading and care must be taken to read the entire definitions and make sure an employee’s job actually meets the requirements.

Employers who routinely misclassify employees are sitting on a time bomb. One complaint can bring the DOL in and result in many employees getting back wages and the employer receiving heavy fines.

Now is the time to take a look at how you classify employees. Consider outsourcing part or most of this project to North Star NP. Contact us to help.