Overtime Violations
Depending on your work week, you may be entitled to overtime where you have worked in excess of 40 hours.
"Regular Rate" x 1.5 =
RCW 49.46.130(2) requires that all hours in excess of forty per week be paid at time-and-one-half the employee’s regular rate of pay:
No employer shall employ any of his employees for a work week longer than forty hours unless such employee receives compensation for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he is employed.
What is the “regular rate?”
Overtime must be paid at time-and-a-half the “regular rate” at which employee is employed. Overtime pay is not included in the “regular rate”, thus employers are not required to pay overtime on overtime.
What about time off in lieu of overtime?
RCW 49.46.130(2)(b) allows an exemption for “employees who request compensating time off in lieu of overtime pay,” otherwise known as comp time. This comp time may be used in lieu of overtime pay only where the employee voluntarily decides to accept time in lieu of overtime pay. WAC 296-128-560.
How is my overtime calculated if I am paid on salary?
The typical scenario is to apply time-and-a-half to all hours worked in excess of 40 hours. However, if your salary is intended to cover a set workweek of more than forty hours, then the regular hourly rate of pay is the salary divided by the agreed hours worked with damages of 50% of the regular hourly rate for overtime up to the agreed amount of work, plus 1.5 times the regular rate for all overtime hours in excess of agreed set amount of work. See Lee v. Tallulah Falls School, Inc. 22 Wage & Hour Cases (BNA) 1176, 1178 (N.D.Ga. 1973). A similar scenario may occur where an employee is incorrectly classified, such as an employee was classified as exempt under Roy v. County of Lexington, 141 F.3d 533, 547 (4th Cir. 1998);Dingwall v. Friedman Fisher Associates, P.C., 3 F.Supp.2d215, 221 (N.D.N.Y. 1998); 29 C.F.R. § 778.114.