The Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) requires that non-exempt employees receive overtime pay equal to one and one-half times their regular hourly pay for any hours worked over 40 in a week. Employees who aren’t covered by the minimum wage and overtime laws are sometimes called “exempt."

The FLSA’s overtime provisions do not apply to every company. Only companies whose gross receivables exceed $500,000 per year are required to pay overtime. But the $500,000 means the amount of money coming in, not the amount of profits the company received. The FLSA does not require that your employer have a certain amount of employees.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") covers:

With certain exceptions including various commission arrangements with sales people, or restaurant servers, your employer must pay at least the minimum hourly wage. Currently, the federal minimum wage is $5.15 per hour. States are permitted to require a higher minimum wage. If you live in a state that has a higher minimum wage, your employer must pay the higher wage. Unless you are a minor, your employer can require you to work any number of hours as long as you get paid for every hour you work.

A standard workweek is 40 hours. How the 40-hour workweek is calculated can vary by state. Unless you are an “exempt” employee, you should receive overtime pay for working more than 40 hours in a workweek.

The FLSA defines “Work” as doing activities that are an “integral” part of your job. ”Work” includes travel that takes you away from your workplace during your usual work hours, training seminars during work hours, and “on call” time if you must restrict your off-duty activities. Your employer can pay you a different rate while “on-call” than your regular wage; however, your employer must pay at least minimum wage for all the time. Usually, overtime pay earned during a particular workweek must be paid whenever the normal payday would be for that workweek.

Your employer is not required to provide vacation time. However, if your employer offers paid vacation, it must be offered to all employees. Most states require that an employee be paid for all accrued vacation at the time of termination.

It is illegal for your employer to fail to pay you. You have a legal right to be paid. In addition, the minimum wage in the United States changes periodically, and may differ from state to state.

A violation occurs when your employer requires you to work a substantial number of hours "off-the-clock" without compensation. In these instances, you are expected to complete significant work-related tasks before or after your normal work hours without additional compensation. Your employer is not permitted to refuse to pay you during breaks. If you take work home with the knowledge and permission of your employer you must be paid for those hours. If you work several hours of overtime one day and your employer states that you can leave work several hours earlier the following week is not permitted. If you are requested to participate in a company-sponsored program after hours, you may be entitled to overtime compensation.

It is illegal for your employer to retaliate against you for asking for your overtime pay, for contacting an attorney, or even filing a claim. If you complain of not receiving overtime pay and your employer fires you, you have a claim for retaliation. This is a separate violation of the law.