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Salaried Exempt in Texas

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Are salaried managers entitled to overtime under federal law in Texas?

In some cases, yes, salaried employees may in fact be entitled to overtime.

It should be understood, however, that some states have their own overtime laws. So in those states, the information below may not apply. Employees who would not be entitled to overtime under federal law may be entitled to it under the laws of those states.

There are two kinds of salaried employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). They are the salaried exempt and the salaried non-exempt. Salaried exempt are called that because they are exempt from overtime regulations. In other words, they need not be paid overtime. Salaried non-exempt employees are entitled to overtime after 40 hours in a week.

The question of which employees fall into which category is a complex one, but some general guidelines do exist. Job duties and pay are among the key factors.

Regarding job duties, the FLSA considers executives, professionals with advanced degrees, computer employees, outside salespeople, administrative employees, and highly compensated people exempt. In other words, they need not be paid overtime.

Executives must direct two or more other workers in order to be exempt. Simply calling an employee a manager does not necessarily qualify.

Administrative employees are exempt when they have the power to make judgment calls independently regarding important business issues. A purchasing agent who chooses vendors would qualify, but not the administrative assistant who phones in that order. The assistant in this case would be entitled to overtime.

Professionals such as pharmacists and emergency room doctors – in short, those with advanced knowledge – would be exempt.

People earning more than $100,000 yearly would be exempt. So would outside sales people and computer professionals – system analysts, programmers, software engineers, and the like.

Regarding pay, any employee earning more than $455 weekly would be exempt and not entitled to overtime. Anyone making less would qualify for overtime pay.

The FLSA requires that workers be paid 1.5 times their regular hourly rate for those hours over 40 they work in a week. JH