Overtime Work

Overtime is typically work performed beyond the established work schedule.

• Normally overtime pay is administered differently depending on whether or not the position is covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act Title 29 (FLSA).
  • Overtime pay for a Federal employee covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (i.e., FLSA-nonexempt employees) is subject to special rules.
  • A position is determined to be either exempt or non-exempt during the position classification process by application of the FSLA criteria found at 5 CFR 551. A position that is covered under the provisions of FLSA is designated “non-exempt”. Conversely, a position that is not covered because it meets one of the FLSA exemption criteria is designated “exempt” because it is exempt from the FLSA rules. Overtime pay for an exempt position is covered under Title 5 USC.
• Overtime pay for an employee covered under the FLSA (non-exempt) is determined by multiplying the employee’s “regular rate of pay” by all overtime hours worked, plus one-half of the employee’s “hourly regular rate of pay” times all overtime hours worked that is “suffered or approved”.
  • The employee must receive overtime pay unless he/she requests compensatory time off in lieu of payment.
  • The bi-weekly or annual pay limitations do not apply to a non-exempt employee, FLSA overtime work, or to a Federal Wage System (FWS) employee.
• Overtime pay for an employee who is not covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (i.e., FLSA- exempt generally is earned for hours of work officially ordered or approved in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in a week. For an employee with a rate of basic pay equal to or less than the rate of basic pay for GS-10, step 1, the overtime hourly rate is the employee’s hourly rate of basic pay multiplied by 1.5. For an employee with a rate of basic pay greater than the rate for GS-10, step 1, the overtime hourly rate is the greater of -(1) the hourly rate of basic pay for GS-10, step 1, multiplied by 1.5, or (2) the employee’s hourly rate of basic pay.
  • Overtime pay covered under Title V is pay for hours of work officially ordered or approved in excess of 8 hours in a day or 40 hours in an administrative workweek.
• A member of the Senior Executive Service is exempt from overtime compensation of any type (i.e., overtime pay, comp time, and credit hours).