Many Minnesota residents may find themselves working overtime to earn some extra money. This is especially true during the holiday season, when gift giving and celebrations strain the budget. However, if workers in Minnesota do not get the money they rightfully deserve for their overtime work, they might not be aware of the legal options they have to pursue an overtime claim.
As per the Minnesota Fair Labor Standards Act, employers must pay overtime for all hours worked over 48 hours per work week, unless the employee is exempt as per law. There are specific exemptions from the term “employee,” such as someone who is under the age of 18 who is employed at a farm to perform specific tasks outlined in law, someone who is employed as a bona fide executive or professional capacity or a salesperson who doesn’t conduct more than 20 percent of sales on the employer’s premises or someone who works gratuitously for a non-profit organization. These are just some of the exemptions from employees provided in law.
Overtime pay is supposed to be at least one and a half times the regular rate of pay the employee is receiving. This calculation should be performed by taking the total pay in any work week and dividing it by the total number of hours the employee worked. It is important to know that holiday hours, vacation time and sick leave are not counted in overtime; just the actual hours that have been worked in a seven-day work week. People do not get overtime pay, therefore, if they have not worked more than 48 hours in a seven-day work week.
The law is different for federal employees, as they are entitled to overtime pay after work performed after 40 hours in a work week. Knowing what the law is and how it applies to your situation is just the first step to knowing whether you have an overtime claim or not when protecting your employee rights.
