Federal overtime laws are set out in the Fair Labor Standards Act, which also contains provisions for minimum wage standards, classifications for exempt and nonexempt workers and employers' record-keeping obligations. Under the act, employers must pay overtime at one and a half times the employee's regular hourly rate when the employee works more than 40 hours in a work week.
Hourly Nonexempt Workers
All hourly employees are nonexempt, meaning that their compensation is based strictly on hours worked and that they are nonexempt from the overtime provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Overtime pay is required only for hours worked above 40 in the work week, which excludes vacation time or other paid time off the employee may have received during the work week. For example, if an employee works eight hours a day on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, takes eight hours of vacation on Thursday and works 11 hours on Friday, he's not entitled to overtime because he worked 35, not 40 hours. He would receive straight-time pay for 43 hours, which represents the 35 hours he worked and the eight hours of vacation.
Movie Theater Workers
Several occupations are exempt from overtime provisions of the act. One such exemption is for employees who work in movie theaters. These workers aren't entitled to overtime pay, under the Fair Labor Standards Act, regardless of how many hours they put in each week. Although the federal law doesn't require that employers pay movie theater workers overtime, state laws may require it. When the federal law and the state law differ concerning minimum wage, exemptions or other categories of the act, employers must follow the law that favors the employee.
Stage Theater Workers
Theater workers, such as actors, composers and dancers, don't qualify for overtime pay based on the salaried exemption for creative professionals. Under the act, creative professionals who are paid a salary of at least $455 a week and whose job duties require what the labor department indicates as, "invention, imagination, originality or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor," aren't entitled to overtime pay. However, the labor department reserves the right to determine the exemption on a case-by-case basis.
Movie theater workers and theater workers aren't entitled to overtime pay under the federal law, but many state laws don't follow the federal exemptions. For example, the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act exempts several creative and theatrical employees from both the minimum wage and overtime pay laws. Stage hands, actors, grips and other theatrical employees don't receive overtime pay. However, movie theater workers, such as ushers and ticket takers, aren't exempt from the provision and receive overtime for working more than 40 hours a week.
- U.S. Department of Labor: Wages
- U.S. Department of Labor: Wages and Hours Worked - Minimum Wage and Overtime Pay
- U.S. Department of Labor: Exemption for Professional Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
- State of North Carolina Department of Labor: Handy Reference Guide to the North Carolina Wage and Hour Act
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