FLSA Glossary of Terms for Overtime law

Administrator: As defined by the changes to the FLSA in August 2004, an administrator is one who "exercise discretion and judgment on matters of significance", but not necessarily those workers in "a position of responsibility."

Department of Labor: The cabinet of the executive branch of the government of the United States that regulates the interaction of employees and employers. The Department of Labor administers and enforces the FLSA.

Duties Test: This test is the way the FLSA determines who is exempt from overtime rules. People who perform high level jobs are usually exempt from overtime protection.

Executive: As defined by the changes to the FLSA in August 2004 an executive is anyone has who have the power to hire, fire, and make employee status decisions for two or more employees.

Exempt employee: An employee not covered by FLSA overtime rule protection.

FLSA: FLSA stands for Fair Labor Standards Act, a group of laws first enacted in 1938 that established regular working hours, overtime pay at time and a half regular wages, and prohibited using minors in a number of occupations. It has been amended many times over the years, most importantly in August 2004.

Nonexempt employee: An employee covered by FLSA overtime rule protection.

Off the clock work: Work performed outside the constraints of a normal work period. Homework, maintenance, repair, and staying late can constitute off the clock work. Employers must quantify the amount of work their employees perform off the clock and compensate them accordingly

Overtime: The FLSA determines overtime is any time a worker works more that 40 hours in a week. Individual state laws can have their own overtime laws, but all must accommodate workers who work more than 40 hours a week.

Professional: As defined by the changes to the FLSA in August 2004, a professional occupation is one who is not exempted by military, technical or low-level training. The new rules dictate that people with equivalent knowledge and perform the same work are now exempted if they "obtain such knowledge through a combination of work experience and intellectual instruction."

Regular rate of pay: the normal amount of money a worker receives per hour. Overtime pay is calculated as one and a half times this amount

Salary Basis Test: The salary basis test dictates that regardless if a person is paid an hourly wage or a salary, if that person can count on a "guaranteed minimum" amount of money for any "work" that person is "salaried." If a person is paid a salary only with a few exceptions do they qualify for overtime exemption unless they also perform a high level of work.