Can employers avoid paying overtime in a given week by reducing hours below normal in another week?
A. No. The FLSA requires an employer to calculate overtime based on hours per week, not hours per pay period. Thus, it makes no difference if an employee’s pay period is longer than one week. An employer may not withhold overtime pay for a given week just because the employee has not averaged over 40 hours in a longer period.
Related Questions
- My employing agency does not list me as a full-time officer, but my normal working hours for a week equal 40. Can I qualify for an EOT?
- What if I work 30 hours in one week and 50 hours in the next week, can my employer average the two weeks to avoid paying me overtime?
- How do you track overtime if a subcontractor only works a fraction of his hours on weatherization, but works more than 40 hours/week?
