Human Resource Blog

If I get a salary how many hours do I have to work?

	Compensation
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I now work for a construction firm as a superintendent in Miami, Florida. I handle HR for my crew. I get a salary. How many hours do I have to work in one day, and how many hours in a week, also do I have to work weekends?

If you perform no manual labor, and your salary is more than $455 per week, you are probably a salary exempt employee. That means that the employer does not have to pay you overtime when you work more than 40 hours per week. In fact, they do not even have to pay you the minimum wage for the hours that you work. They do have to pay your entire salary (unless you miss a day of work) whether you work 30 hours per week or 90 hours per week.

To answer your questions in order, as long as you work at least 1 hour per day, the employer must pay your salary for the day. However, the employer can legally require that you work 8,10,12, even 16 or more hours per day, every day. There is no federal or Florida law that sets a limit on how many hours an employer can require an employee to work. (Again, unless the employee is performing manual labor.) The employer can legally require that you work 100 hours per week or more — it is not limited under federal or state law. And, because you are legitimately a salary exempt employee, the employer need not pay overtime.

Under both federal and Florida law, an employer can legitimately require any employee to work weekends. If the employee is salary exempt, he or she need not be paid extra for this.

To make sure that you are a salary exempt employee, check with the US Department of Labor, Wage and Hour division.