Employers and Overtime Laws in Tennessee
Overtime laws in Tennessee do not place any requirements on employers regarding the overtime pay of their employees. Overtime pay in Tennessee is instead addressed by the federal law under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
FLSA Overtime Requirements
The FLSA sets requirements on the minimum amount of pay an employee who works in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. The FLSA does not place limitations on the number of hours an employee may work in a day or the number of days in a week that an employer may require an employee to work. However, the FLSA does require that employers pay employees not less than one and one-half times their regular rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek. As will discussed below not all employees are covered by FLSA overtime protections. Exempt employees are not covered by FLSA protections.
Exempt employees
The FLSA exempts employees employed in bona fide executive, administrative, professional, and outside sales employees. To fall under these categories employees generally must have certain job duties and be paid on a salary basis at not less than $455 per week.
Waiver of Overtime Hours
An employee may not be forced to waive their right to overtime pay. For example, an employer may not create an employment policy that prohibits an employee from working more than 8 hours a day or only 40 hours. Such policies normally require an employee to agree that any work beyond these limits will not be paid at the required overtime rate or that overtime must be authorized in advance. In these cases, an employee can work beyond the 8 hours a day and 40 hours a week threshold and must be paid at the FLSA mandated overtime rate.