{"id":9001,"date":"2022-09-26T18:18:23","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T18:18:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/affinityhrgroup.com\/?p=9001"},"modified":"2023-11-27T20:22:20","modified_gmt":"2023-11-27T20:22:20","slug":"what-do-you-need-to-pay-a-non-exempt-employee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theworkplaceadvisors.com\/what-do-you-need-to-pay-a-non-exempt-employee\/","title":{"rendered":"What Do You Need to Pay a Non-Exempt Employee?"},"content":{"rendered":"
A recent story reported that <\/span>Delta Airlines will begin paying flight attendants half-time for boarding duties<\/span><\/a>, a change from the industry-standard of only paying once the doors close. Delta is implementing this change to stave off a push to unionize their flight attendants. However, it raised a critical question for many people \u2013 <\/span>are there times I do not need to pay employees when they work<\/span><\/i>?<\/span><\/p>\n This, like many aspects of wage-and-hour law, has a complicated answer as there are many factors to consider. First, let\u2019s define some key terms:<\/span><\/p>\n Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)<\/b><\/a> is the federal law that defines \u201cwage-and-hour\u201d law and <\/span>applies to most companies<\/span><\/a>. While certain enterprises are not subject to some of the FLSA requirements, even they must still follow the minimum wage, overtime, record-keeping, and child labor requirements in total or in part.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Non-exempt employees <\/b>are<\/span> covered by FLSA and<\/span> must be paid a minimum wage of at least $7.25 per hour for all hours worked and overtime of time-and-a-half their regular hourly rate for all hours worked over 40 hours in a workweek (a set 7-day \/ 168-hour period). Employers must track and retain records of their extra time worked using any timekeeping method such as timeclock, timecards, computer systems, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n Exempt employees<\/b> meet specific criteria as defined by the FLSA releasing employers from these minimum wage, overtime, and time-tracking requirements. These employees usually work for a salary (\u201cwage guarantee\u201d) regardless of how many hours they work in a workweek.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some states<\/b> have laws dictating a higher minimum wage, more generous overtime payments, and\/or different exemption standards so employers must follow the one that most benefits the employee.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Exemptions<\/b> are based on the actual job duties each employee performs, not on their title or position. FLSA establishes many exemptions, the most common of which are <\/span>Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer, and Outside Sales Employees<\/span><\/a>. However, there are numerous other ones defined under FLSA such as exemptions for Highly-Compensated employees, first responders, healthcare workers, domestic workers, and farm workers. For example, Delta Airlines is exempt from certain FLSA requirements under the Railway Labor Act (RLA) so they are not obligated to pay this boarding time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some FLSA exemptions cover specific requirements, such as the Tip Credit which allows employers to reduce the minimum wage paid (currently down to $2.13 per hour, although some states have different requirements) for employees who qualify as Tipped Employees, but retains the overtime and record-keeping requirements. <\/span>Commissioned retail employees<\/span><\/a> who earn more than half of their wages from commissions and whose regular pay rate is at least time-and-a-half minimum wage may be exempt from minimum wage and overtime requirements, but time-tracking is still required.<\/span><\/p>\n