The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a former Helix Energy Solutions Group oil rig worker who made $200,000 annually is entitled to overtime pay despite the employer’s claim that legislation prohibits that.

Michael Hewitt filed an action against Helix Energy seeking overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938, which guarantees overtime pay to covered employees when they work more than 40 hours a week.

From 2014 to 2017, Hewitt worked for the offshore oil rig, typically working 84 hours a week while on the vessel. He was paid on a daily-rate basis, with no overtime compensation.

This is because the employer claimed Hewitt is exempt from the FLSA because he qualified as “a bona fide executive.”

Under applicable regulations, an employee is considered a bona fide executive excluded from the FLSA’s protections if the employee meets all of these tests:

1. the “salary basis” test, which requires that an employee receive a predetermined and fixed salary that does not vary with the amount of time worked
2. the “salary level” test, which requires that preset salary to exceed a specified amount;
3. the job “duties” test.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court ruled in favor of Hewitt based on the fact that he was paid on a salary basis.

“The question here is whether a high-earning employee is compensated on a ‘salary basis’ when his paycheck is based solely on a daily rate—so that he receives a certain amount if he works one day in a week, twice as much for two days, three times...

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