Can my boss change me from hourly to salary pay because he doesn’t want to pay overtime?
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Can my boss change me from hourly to salary pay because he doesn’t want to pay overtime?
I work roughly 90 hours every 2 weeks at $10 an hour get letter today that we will all be switched to salary pay 80 hours every 2 weeks but still will be working same amount of hours.
Asked on June 2, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Texas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
Yes and no.
An employer may change employees from salaried to hourly (or vice versa) at any time, for any reason: how employees are paid, the terms and conditions of their employment, etc. are completely up to the employer.
However, some salaried employees are still eligible for overtime. (If a salaried employee gets overtime, you calculate it by dividing the weekly salary by 40 to find the effective or equivalent hourly rate; then for each hour of time worked over 40 hours in a week, the employee gets a premium equal to 50% of the effective or equivalent hourly rate.)
To be exempt from overtime, an employee must:
1) Be paid on a salary basis;
2) The salary must be at least $23,660 per year or $455/week; and also
3) The employee's level of responsibility and duties must meet one or more of the "tests" for exemption, such as the professional exemption, administrative employee exemption, or executive/managerial exemption, which you can find on the U.S. Dept. of Labor website.
Unless all three criteria above are met, you would still be eligible for overtime.
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