The Health Care Industry and Calculating Overtime Pay

This a fact sheet from the DOL on health care pay, overtime calculations, bonus and commission pay. http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs54.pdf Summary This fact sheet provides guidance regarding common FLSA violations found by the Wage and Hour Division during investigations in the health care industry relating to the calculation of overtime pay. Nonexempt employees must be paid at least time-and-one-half their “regular rate” of pay for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek. The “regular rate” includes an employee’s hourly rate plus the value of some other types of compensation such as bonuses and shift differentials. The only remuneration excluded from the regular rate under the FLSA are certain specified types of payments like discretionary bonuses, gifts, contributions to certain welfare plans, payments made to certain profit-sharing and savings plans, and pay for foregoing holidays and vacations. A common error in calculating overtime pay by health care employers involve the failure to include bonuses, shift differentials and other types of compensation in the regular rate of pay. Errors are also common in the health care industry in calculating the regular rate when an employee works two or more different jobs in a single workweek. There is no limitation in the FLSA on the number of hours employees over the age of 15 may work in any workweek. The FLSA does not require overtime pay for hours in excess of eight hours worked in a day, except as discussed below, or for hours worked on Saturdays, Sundays, or holidays.