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Edited on Wed Apr-02-08 10:11 AM by AZDemDist6
:shrug: Exempt v. Non-Exempt Employees
Unlike the Family and Medical Leave Act, it makes no difference how long you have worked for an employer. An employee is entitled to overtime pay in the first week that he works more than 40 hours. The key is that not all employees are covered by the law. The law differentiates between “exempt” employees – employees that are not covered by the law – and “non-exempt” employees who are covered by the law.
An employee who is paid by the hour and not by salary, is automatically non-exempt and is entitled to overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a week. But one must actually be an employee and not an independent contractor (that is you must actually be an employee of the company and not be your own business doing work for the employer).
Generally, high paying executive, professional, or managerial jobs are exempt and therefore cannot get overtime pay. Executives are people who are officers of corporations have a very high degree of responsibility. Professionals are usually people who have to have special educational achievements like, lawyers, architects, doctors, and teachers. Managers are usually people who supervise others. But just because a job title is has the word “manager” in it does not make it exempt. The key is what work the job does.
There are also a list of particularized exemptions which include among others: computer analysts, salespeople, and servers in restaurants. Recent changes in the Federal laws have created more exceptions, but Illinois has recently passed its own law to preserve overtime for many workers. As a result, an employee in Chicago might have a better chance than one in Milwaukee. Therefore, it is important to have a Chicago employment lawyer review your claim.
Employer Tricks and Traps
Employers often make mistakes in deciding which employees are exempt and which are not. Sometimes they even try to trick employees into thinking that they are exempt (not entitled to overtime). You may still be entitled to overtime pay even if: 1) you are on a salary; 2) you have the word manager in your title; 3) your employer says you are an independent contractor (you might not be); or 4) your employer just tells you that you are exempt. Another common trap is for employers to pay employees their regular hourly rate for hours over 40 in a week. If you make $10 per hour and in a 50 hour week you are paid only $500 ($10 x 50 hours), you are still owed an additional $50 because the last 10 hours your overtime pay was $15, not $10. You should have gotten time and a half. These calculations can be tricky and you should review them with an employment lawyer or labor lawyer.
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