×
Saturday, May 2, 2026

What Is a Non-Exempt Employee? Definition, Rights, Pros & Cons - msnNOW

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which was initially passed in 1938 but has been amended many times since, details minimum wage and overtime requirements for non-exempt workers in the United States.

What Is a Non-Exempt Employee?

A non-exempt employee is a worker who is entitled to a minimum hourly wage and an overtime wage of at least 1.5 times their typical wage for any hours worked per week over 40. These protections are guaranteed to non-exempt employees by the FLSA, so any worker who believes their employer is not in compliance with these standards may seek recourse for wage theft violations by contacting the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor.

The minimum wage that a non-exempt worker is entitled to varies from place to place. The federal minimum is $7.25 per hour, but many states and municipalities have higher minimum wages, and the highest applicable minimum wage in any given location is the one legally guaranteed by the FLSA.

Typically, non-exempt employees are paid by the hour and keep track of their time worked via some sort of physical or digital timecard to ensure payroll accuracy. In some cases, however, non-exempt workers may be paid via salary, in which case their total pay for a period can be divided by their hours worked to ensure minimum and overtime wage requirements are being met.

What Is an Exempt Employee?

Exempt workers are the counterparts to non-exempt employees. They are workers who, due to the nature of their work and the...



Read Full Story: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMihQFodHRwczovL3d3dy5tc24uY29tL2VuLXVz...