Overtime laws are somewhat confusing for the weary and many employees have misconceptions about whether or not they are entitled to overtime. The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) is a federal law that governs minimum wage and overtime issues in the United States. Some states have their own version of the FLSA governing overtime and minimum wage and such state-specific laws provide for greater employee protection in most cases than does the FLSA. South Carolina does not have a state law governing overtime pay, so the FLSA is the whole story for South Carolinians when it comes to overtime.
Some common myths and misconceptions about overtime pay are:
Myth #1: You are not entitled to overtime if you are paid a salary
Perhaps the biggest overtime myth is that salaried employees are not entitled to overtime pay. There are certain statutory exemptions for employees under the FLSA that do require an employee to be paid a salary in order to fall under the exemption, but salary is only one part of a multi-prong test in these instances. If the other criteria for an exemption are not met, then the fact that an employee is paid on a salary alone will not keep the employee from being entitled to overtime. The fact of the matter is that while there are many hourly employees who are entitled to overtime, there are also many salaried employees who are entitled to overtime as well. If you are paid a salary, you are still entitled to overtime unless you meet all of the requirements for one of the exemptions under the FLSA and the other requirements for exemption are typically more difficult to meet than the salary requirement is.
Myth #2: Compensatory time can be given in lieu of overtime pay
Unless you are employed by a public employer, such as the local, state or federal government, your employer cannot give you compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay. Private employers cannot even give their non-exempt employees a choice between overtime pay or compensatory time off under the FLSA.
Myth #3: Time spent travelling for work does not count towards hours worked for purposes of calculating overtime
While time spent commuting to and from work is not considered part of the hours worked in calculating overtime pay, employee travel that is part of the normal workday, such as travel time to and from job sites or client meetings, is compensable work time and does count towards the calculation of total hours worked for purposes of calculating overtime.
While these three myths represent some of the more common misunderstandings in regards to overtime pay, there are many, many more. It pays for employees to understand exactly how overtime laws apply to their unique situations.
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