A salaried non-exempt employee is paid a set salary but is still owed overtime under the FLSA. Being on salary does not make someone exempt. The salary has to be turned into an hourly regular rate for any week over 40 hours.
| Salaried exempt | Salaried non-exempt | |
|---|---|---|
| Overtime | Not owed | Owed after 40 hours a week |
| Time records | Not required for hours | Required, like any non-exempt employee |
| Tests | Salary level, salary basis and duties test | Fails at least one test |
| Regular rate | Not needed | Salary divided by the hours it is meant to cover |
See exempt vs non-exempt for the tests and duties test for the job duties part.
An office coordinator at a construction company is paid $3,900 a month for a 40-hour week. She does not meet the duties test for an exemption, so she is non-exempt.
EZTime labor rule alerts flag overtime and missed rest periods before payroll.
To find the weekly salary, multiply by 12 and divide by 52: $3,900 x 12 / 52 = $900 a week. The regular rate is $900 / 40 = $22.50 an hour, and the overtime rate is $33.75.
During a bid deadline she works 46 hours. She is owed her normal salary for the week plus 6 overtime hours at $33.75, which is $202.50. Her hours were tracked on the same mobile clock the field crews use, so payroll sees the 46 hours without anyone having to remember them. Without time records, the overtime would have been invisible.
Salaried non-exempt employees need the same time records as hourly staff: when they start and stop each day, meal breaks, and weekly totals. That includes work done away from the office, such as answering emails at night, which counts as hours worked.
Short rest breaks are paid for non-exempt employees, salaried or not. Meal breaks of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid if the employee is completely relieved from duty. Make sure the clock-in tool the person uses records both.
A salaried non-exempt operations assistant at a moving company clocks in and out at the office, 8:00 to 4:30 with a 30-minute lunch, 40 hours a week. Her manager often sends her schedule changes at 8:00 p.m., and she answers them from home.
When she mentions it in a check-in, the company finds about 3 hours a week of evening work. That puts her at 43 hours most weeks, so she is owed overtime for those hours. The company asks her to record evening work on the mobile clock and moves schedule changes to before 4:00 p.m. where it can.
Yes. If they are non-exempt, they must be paid overtime for hours over 40 in a workweek, even on a salary.
Turn the salary into a weekly amount, divide by the hours it is meant to cover to get the regular rate, and pay 1.5 times that rate for hours over 40.
Their hours must be recorded, so most employers have them clock in and out like hourly staff.
To give a predictable paycheck to someone who does not meet an exemption, while still paying overtime when it is owed.
It depends on the pay agreement. Salary basis rules apply to exempt employees, so a non-exempt salary can be adjusted for hours not worked if the agreement allows it, as long as minimum wage is met.
Short rest breaks, usually 5 to 20 minutes, are paid. Meal breaks of 30 minutes or more can be unpaid if the employee is fully relieved from duty.
EZTime turns clock-ins and approved corrections into signed monthly reports you can export to PDF or Excel for payroll.