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Overtime

See also Overtime (sport).

Overtime is the amount of time an employee works beyond what is considered healthy or reasonable by society. Most nations have overtime laws designed to prevent and/or dissuade employers from working their employees excessively. These laws vary greatly from country to country.

U.S. Overtime Law

In the United States, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 establishes a standard work week of 40 hours for certain kinds of workers, and mandates payment for overtime hours to those workers of one and one-half times the worker's normal rate of pay for any time worked above 40 hours. The law creates two broad categories of workers, those that are "exempt" from the regulation and those that are "non-exempt". Classes of workers that are exempt from the regulation include certain types of administrative, professional, and managerial employees. Under the law, employers are not required to pay exempt emloyees overtime but must do so for non-exempt employees. Out of approximately 120 million American workers, nearly 50 million are exempt from overtime laws (U.S Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, 1998). As a result, Americans rank near the top for the average number of hours worker per year (1,979) comapared to other advanced capitalist nations. . The Bush administration maintained that the impact would be minimal and would help clarify an out-dated regulation.

References

• U.S Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, Minimum Wage and Overtime Hours Under the Fair Labor Standards Atc: 1998 Report to the Congress Required by Section 4(d)(1) of the Fairl Labor Standards Act, tab. 2 at 14 (1998).