Overtime While Working From Home

Workers protected under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are authorized to overtime pay. Overtime pay must be paid in an amount that is 1.5 times (one and one half) the regular pay rate. Employers must pay the overtime rate for any hours worked over 40 in a workweek. Workers who labor from home are authorized to overtime pay.

Working Extra Hours Remotely

Not all non-exempt workers are essential workers, meaning even those laboring remotely are entitled to overtime pay. If you are a non-salary employee who is working more than 40 hours per week, even if the job is being done in your own home, your employer owes you overtime pay for your time.

Observing or tracking overtime can be challenging when working remotely since your employer is not physically seeing your presence at the office. Similar to the way you clock in and out at your office, your supervisor should enforce means by which you can clock in and out from your home office. They may be concerned about the validity of your check-ins, wondering if you were working throughout the day.

A good way for businesses to watch an employee’s work is by using a digital outlet for each worker to sign in at the beginning of the day and for the platform to show each employee’s status throughout the day. In other words, if you are actively working and present on your laptop, the digital platform will display this. Once you go inactive, your account will mirror your inaction.

There are several ways for employers to follow the work hours of their remote employees, leaving no justifications for the denial of overtime pay.

Who Is Not Qualified for Overtime Pay?

Under the FLSA, not all workers are qualified for overtime pay. The FLSA is administered by the Department of Labor, a federal agency. That agency has disseminated restrictions that state who is exempt from (not entitled to the protection of) the overtime pay law. Exempt people include professional, executive, and administrative employees. These people also include outside sales employees.

Administrative workers include salaried individuals whose primary responsibilities are managing a business or part of a business. To qualify as exempt, these workers must usually direct the jobs of others and have control or sway in hiring and firing determinations.

Professional employees are salaried employees. Professional employees’ job assignment demands refined knowledge in an area of learning. The worker obtains this knowledge through unique study (e.g., medical or law school). Professional employees also include those whose original work is a product of their talent, imagination, and invention and is in an artistic field. A professional employee’s work requires discretion and independent judgment. The work must be primarily intellectual.

Administrative workers are salaried employees. Their primary responsibilities include fulfilling work related to the employer’s guidelines and business operations. When these workers perform their jobs, they exercise their own judgment and discretion about essential matters.

An outside sales worker need not be paid on a salaried basis. Outside sales employees are those workers whose sales are made where a customer works or at the customer’s residence.

To be an outside sales employee, an individual must usually work somewhere other than where the employer conducts business.

Who is Eligible for Overtime Pay?

Employees who are not professional, administrative, or executive workers and are not outside sales employees may be qualified for overtime pay. To be qualified, the employee must work over 40 hours in a workweek. Under the law, a workweek is a designated, regularly recurring period of time. The recurring period of time is 168 hours, which is seven back-to-back periods of 24 hours.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) defines policies of the workplace to provide that all employees are treated equitably by their employers. This includes establishing a minimum wage rate and mandating overtime pay for additional hours worked. The FLSA separates workers into two categories: exempt and non-exempt employees.

Exempt employees are salaried employees and are not entitled to overtime pay. These workers must be paid the same amount every pay period, regardless of the number of hours they have worked. This means that if they work under 40 hours, they should be paid their regular wage, and if they work over 40 hours, they will not be paid more for their time. Non-exempt workers are subject to minimum wage rates, paid on an hourly basis, and are entitled to overtime pay if they work over 40 hours in one week. Overtime pay is given at one and a half times the employee’s normal pay rate in many states.

Certain salaried employees may be entitled to overtime pay. Employees who are not exempt and earn less than a certain amount per year (currently, around $35,568) may be qualified for overtime pay. The overtime pay is at a rate of 1.5 times the employee’s salary, measured as an hourly rate. To bypass paying such employees overtime, employers may raise these employees’ salaries to an amount above $35,568.

Can I Get Overtime Pay If I Work From Home?

Telecommuting or working from home does not impact eligibility for overtime pay. If a non-exempt employee works from home for over 40 hours in a workweek, the employee is entitled to overtime pay.

Any work the employee works on from home tallies towards the 40 hours. If an employee works partly from home and partially at the job site, the employer must add up the entire time worked at each. If that time surpasses 40 hours in a workweek, the employer must pay overtime.

Can My Employer Forbid Overtime Just Because I Work From Home?

Before an employee engages in work from home, they must usually ask the employer for approval to “work overtime.” An employer may not prohibit an employee from “working overtime” just because the employee works from home.

In addition, work completed from home must be compensated at the same rate as work performed at the office.

What if I Primarily Work From Home, and I Sometimes Commute to Work?

Employees who predominantly telecommute may periodically have to commute to work. Employees’ hours traveling to and from work must be calculated as “hours worked.”

If commuting brings an employee “over” 40 hours in a workweek, the worker must be paid overtime.

What if My Employer Does Not Compensate Me for Overtime Work?

An employee whose employer does not adequately pay them for overtime work may file a lawsuit in court. If the worker succeeds, the court will order the employer to pay the worker the money they should have acquired.

Do I Need the Help of a Lawyer With Overtime Pay Issues?

If you think you are permitted overtime pay, you should contact an employment lawyer. An experienced employment attorney can assess your case and inform you of your rights and options. An employer can also represent you at hearings and in court proceedings.

Use LegalMatch to find the right employment lawyer in your area. Our services are entirely confidential, and there is no cost to schedule an initial consultation. Find the right lawyer for your needs on LegalMatch today.