SALARIED EMPLOYEES RIGHTS

Many workers assume that being paid a salary means they are not entitled to overtime pay, extra compensation for long hours, or the same protections that hourly workers enjoy. That assumption is wrong — and employers know it. Misclassifying employees as exempt salaried workers to avoid paying overtime is one of the most common wage violations in the country. At Klie Law Offices, our employment law attorneys help salaried employees throughout West Virginia and Ohio understand their rights and recover the compensation they are owed.

We handle salaried employee cases from our offices in Buckhannon, Clarksburg, Morgantown, Parkersburg, and Canton, Ohio.

To qualify for the white-collar exemptions (executive, administrative, or professional), an employee must be paid on a salary basis at a rate that meets the minimum threshold set by the Department of Labor. Being paid on a salary basis means the employee receives a predetermined, fixed amount each pay period that is not reduced based on the quality or quantity of work performed. If the employer docks the employee’s pay for partial-day absences, for working fewer hours than expected, or for other reasons related to the quality or quantity of work, the salary basis requirement may be violated — which would make the employee non-exempt and entitled to overtime for all overtime hours worked during the period the improper deductions occurred.

There are limited exceptions that allow salary deductions without destroying the salary basis, including deductions for full-day absences for personal reasons (not sickness or disability), full-day absences for sickness or disability under a bona fide plan, unpaid disciplinary suspensions of one or more full days for serious workplace conduct violations, and FMLA leave.