GETTING STARTED Pocket the Best Plastic How to Fix a Credit Report Error How to Adjust Your Withholding Life Insurance Made Simple Fill the Holes in Your Homeowners Insurance More... TOOLS Search for the best credit card Should I pay off debt or invest in savings? How much life insurance do I need? 2004 survey of state tax burdens The true cost of paying the minimum Research your bank Recent Columns Going Into Overtime - Feb. 3, 2005 Don't Delay Starting Your HSA - Jan. 31, 2005 Stocks Still Tops for the Long Term - Jan. 27, 2005 'One for All' Works for IRAs, Too - Jan. 24, 2005 Get Out of Bankrupt Shares While You Can - Jan. 20, 2005 Insuring a Car You Don't Own - Jan. 17, 2005 MORE ... ASK KIM E-MAIL   Sign Up   Now you can have Ask Kim delivered to your inbox three times a week. Sign up now.

ASK KIM
Going Into Overtime
by Kimberly Lankford

I read recently that people earning more than $23,000 may not get overtime pay. I know of a few employers who pay overtime to those earning at least $35,000. What is the rule?

The government doesn't decide who can't be paid overtime; the law provides for who must be.

The rules that took effect last summer require that workers earning less than $23,660 a year be paid overtime when they work more than 40 hours in a week. The pay must be at least one and a half times their regular rate.

The law also requires that employers pay overtime to certain workers, who can earn as much as $100,000, although employees who hold executive, administrative, professional and computer jobs, and those who work in outside sales and a few other positions, are generally exempt.

For more information about who is exempt, see the Department of Labor's FairPay Web page.