Overtime Definition

Term Definition
FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) defines overtime as the time that employees work over the threshold of 40 hours a week. Some medical and government employees may have different thresholds.

Extended Definition
Overtime refers to the number of hours that non-exempt employees work over and above the threshold of 40 hours. Overtime is calculated over the entire work week, not on a daily basis. The DOL (Department of Labor) has established some exceptions to the overtime rules; employees of nursing homes and hospitals, firefighters and policemen, fall in the ‘exempt’ category. For more information regarding this, please consult the DOL. Employers are required to pay non-exempt employees at least one and a half times their regular pay rate for working over the 40-hour threshold.

Related Articles
Overtime as Defined by the FLSA
How to Calculate Overtime for Salaried Employees