Workers in Hawaii deserve to be fairly compensated for their time spent at work. Unfortunately, some men and women are not familiar with their rights when it comes to overtime pay. Some of this might come down to confusion between nonexempt and exempt employees.
Do nonexempt employees get overtime?
Barring a few exceptions, the Fair Labor Standards Acts dictates that nonexempt workers be paid overtime for working any amount of time longer than 40 hours in a single week. Overtime pay is one and a half times that of a worker’s regular pay. Many job positions are considered exempt, especially those that are hourly positions.
What is an exempt employee?
An exempt employee is someone who is not entitled to any overtime pay, even if he or she works more than 40 hours in a single week. Certain professions are considered exempt regardless of outside factors, such as airline employees or outside sales staff. However, workers who are not in a profession that is exempt by definition might still be considered exempt if they meet the following three qualifications:
- Earns at least $23,600 annually
- Receives a salary wage
- Is required to perform exempt job duties
While the income qualifications might be straightforward, exempt job duties might be a little confusing. In general, an exempt job duty is considered relatively high level in regard to a company’s operations and may be considered executive, administrative or professional. If a worker in Hawaii does not perform exempt job duties or meet the income qualifications, but has not been fairly compensated for working more than 40 hours in a single week, he or she might want to consider taking action to secure back–due overtime pay.