5. Case Study #13: Overtime Pay (The Fair Labor Standards Act)You are a $15 per hour, non-exempt, clerical employee of the ABC Company. Your office hours are from 8.00 AM to 5.00 PM, however, si

5. Case Study #13: Overtime Pay (The Fair Labor Standards Act)

You are a $15 per hour, non-exempt, clerical employee of the ABC Company. Your office hours are from 8.00 AM to 5.00 PM, however, since your husband must drop you off on his way to work each morning, you normally arrive at 7.30 AM. By arriving early, you have the chance to get the coffeepot going for your fellow employees, open the morning mail, and check the dozens of e-mails your boss receives before the workday begins. In this half-hour, you are able to answer about 15% of all the mail that has been received – naturally, you do this in your boss’s name, and with her general approval. She has left it to you to decide which items of correspondence need her personal attention.

The ABC Company is very supportive of the local community, and sponsors in-company work programs for high school juniors and seniors, not just during the summer, but also throughout the school year. Your boss knows how much you enjoy working with young people and has given you direct responsibility for their direction and training. Currently, you have three teenagers working under you, and you have had as many as five in the past. Because you have so many other duties to attend to during the day, the only time you have to get your little group of people together to teach them about the office equipment and office procedures is during your lunch hour. Normally, your lunch hour would be from noon to 1.00 PM, but you manage to grab a bite from the vending machine at noon, and start teaching your kids from 12.15 to 1.00 PM.

Since you depend on your husband for a ride home, you hang around the office until 6.00 PM each day. Rather than just sit there, waiting, you busy yourself with finishing up daily projects and cleaning up any filing that may remain. Sometimes your boss works late with you, but not often.

In addition to your hourly wage, the company pays a seniority bonus of $40 per week to employees, such as yourself, who have over ten years’ service with the company. You are also eligible to receive a special customer service bonus from your supervisor for outstanding handling of customer problems. This $100 award may be given by the supervisor on those occasions a customer specifically complements a particular individual.

Question (Choose the best answer)

What should your weekly gross earnings be?

$600.00 – You are not entitled to overtime as you are functioning as an exempt employee.
$656.25 - You are entitled to 2.5 hours of overtime.
$700.00 - You are entitled to the seniority bonus and 2.5 hours of overtime.
$740.00 – You are entitled to the seniority bonus and customer service award.
$768.75 – You are entitled to 7.5 hours of overtime.
$820.00 – You are entitled to the seniority bonus and 7.5 hours of overtime.
$881.25 – You are entitled to 12.5 hours of overtime.
$926.00 – You are entitled to the seniority bonus and 12.5 hours of overtime.
$940.00 – You are entitled to the seniority bonus and 12.5 hours of overtime.
$1,040.00 – You are entitled to the seniority bonus, the customer service award and 12.5 hours of overtime