The Fair Labor Standards Act is a federal law which requires employers to pay certain employees a minimum wage and overtime. Like most laws, the FLSA contains various exemptions. On February 22, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a decision in the case Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt, an FLSA case which addressed the question of whether a high earning employee is exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirement, if the employer pays the employee based on a daily rate. Today’s Long Island employment law blog looks at the Helix decision.
Unless an exemption applies, the FLSA requires that employers pay overtime to employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek. Exemptions under the FLSA include employees who work in an executive, professional, or administrative capacity. In Helix, the court looked at the executive exemption.
The executive exemption to the FLSA generally applies to workers if a three part test is met. First, the employer must pay the employee on a salary basis. Second, the salary must meet a specified amount set by regulation. Third, the nature of the employee’s job must relate to executive responsibilities, as those responsibilities are established by law.