Question: The Massachusetts minimum wage is $14.25 per hour for 2022 and will increase to $15 per hour for 2023. The minimum salary for exemption under the executive and administrative exemptions under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act is $684 per week. This $684 minimum salary is equal to 48 hours at $14.25 and 45.6 hours at $15. What happens if an exempt employee working at the minimum federal salary threshold works enough hours that the salary drops below the Massachusetts minimum wage?
Answer: The question requires research of both federal and state laws.
An employee who qualifies for the FLSA’s white collar exemptions for executive, administrative, or professional employees is exempt from the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime requirements. Generally, under current FLSA rules, a salary of at least $684 per workweek meets the minimum salary amount requirements for these exemptions.
For the employee in question, the salary meets the FLSA requirements even if the employee works more than 94 hours during a workweek, at which point the hourly rate would drop below the $7.25 per hour federal minimum wage. That is, under the federal rules, an exempt employee could be paid less than the federal minimum wage during a workweek and still qualify as exempt.
Thirty states, the District of Columbia, and three of the five US territories, have a state minimum wage that is more than the $7.25 federal minimum wage.
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