“Generally, hourly workers are non-exempt and eligible for overtime pay. Executives, managers, administrators and “professionals” — think lawyers, doctors or other roles requiring specialized education — tend to fall into the exempt category.
“The idea is that a white-collar job involves more responsibility, more pay and with that can come more flexibility in hours,” said Melissa Lardo Stewart, a partner at employment law firm Outten & Golden.
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Many workers falsely assume that all salaried employees are exempt from overtime, but that isn’t always the case, she said. Eligibility for overtime pay is determined by both your pay level and the duties of your job – and can get pretty tricky to determine from employee to employee.
Workers making under a certain salary level are automatically eligible for overtime pay, the current law states.
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Many workers don’t report their overtime hours or receive the time-and-a-half pay they might be eligible for — either because they don’t know their rights, their employer doesn’t communicate to them or they face pressure to not report their overtime hours.
“It’s unfortunately very common,” Stewart said.