Massachusetts Overtime Law: Exemptions and Regulations

Who Qualifies as Exempt from Overtime Under FLSA and Massachusetts Overtime Law?

Federal and Massachusetts overtime laws require employers to pay overtime to non-exempt employees who work over 40 hours a week. To qualify as exempt, employees must meet specific criteria, which go beyond just being salaried. Exemptions are governed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Massachusetts state law, and federal Department of Labor regulations.

While some exemptions are well-defined, there's often a gray area when classifying employees. Generally, exemptions fall into three categories: professional, executive, and administrative duties. We'll delve into each of these exemptions below.

Professional Exemption: Defining the Criteria

To be considered FLSA exempt as a bona fide professional employee, the following must apply:

The employee's primary duty must involve work requiring advanced knowledge, predominantly intellectual and requiring discretion and judgment.
This advanced knowledge must pertain to a specific field of science or learning.
Typically, this knowledge is acquired through prolonged specialized intellectual instruction.

Examples of exempt professionals encompass lawyers, doctors, teachers, architects, and clergy. However, having an advanced degree doesn't automatically qualify you as exempt; it's about what you actually do in your job.

Executive Exemption: Key Criteria

To qualify as FLSA exempt under the executive category, these factors must be met:

The employee's primary duty should be managing the enterprise, a recognized department, or a subdivision.
They must routinely supervise at least two or more full-time employees.
The employee must possess the authority to hire or fire employees, or their recommendations must significantly influence the hiring or firing process.

This exemption encompasses C-suite executives and general managers. Merely having "manager" in your job title doesn't automatically make you exempt; it hinges on whether you fulfill the criteria defined by the FLSA.

Administrative Exemption: Understanding the Essentials

For an FLSA exemption under administrative duties, the following must be true:

The employee's primary duty should involve non-manual or office work directly related to the employer's management or general business operations.
Their role must require exercising discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance.

The administrative exemption usually applies to roles that support a business's operations but don't involve producing or selling the core product or service. Examples include HR, payroll, finance, marketing, public relations, and compliance staff.

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Highly Compensated Employees: Streamlined Exemptions

Highly compensated employees need to meet only one of the above criteria to be exempt. In 2020, "highly compensated" means earning at least $107,432 annually. For instance, they could meet the criteria for the administrative exemption but not the executive exemption and still be considered exempt.

Exempt vs. Non-Exempt: Other Specific Exemptions

Apart from the three main categories, other exemptions apply to specific occupations. Employees involved in interstate commerce driving large trucks, outside sales employees, farm workers, fishermen, certain seasonal workers, domestic workers, and several other specific categories may also be exempt. Massachusetts further excludes garagemen and employees in restaurants, gas stations, hospitals, or other healthcare facilities. If in doubt, check your role or your employees' roles against this list of specific state and feral exemptions.

Why Overtime Exemptions Matter

Understanding your exempt status is crucial as an employee because it determines whether you're owed overtime pay for working over 40 hours a week. Additionally, being non-exempt might exempt you from non-compete agreements under Massachusetts law.
For employers, accurately classifying employees can save time and money. Misclassifying an employee as exempt when they're not could lead to significant overtime liabilities. Remember, an employee who wins an overtime claim may recover two or three times their damages, along with attorney's fees and costs.

Meet Our Employment Lawyers

Emily Smith-Lee is the owner and founder of slnlaw. She is a 1996 graduate of Boston College Law School. She was previously a partner at the Boston office of a large international firm, where she worked for thirteen years before starting the firm that became slnlaw in 2009. She has been recognized as a Massachusetts Superlawyer each year since 2013, and in 2018 earned recognition as one of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly's Lawyers of the Year. She has written a book on employment law: Rules of the Road, What You Need to Know About Employment Laws in Massachusetts, and helped thousands of clients on both the employee and employer side with issues relating to wage and hour laws, including overtime pay, late or unpaid wages or commissions, employee misclassification, and retaliation against employees asserting rights under the wage and hour laws.

Rebecca Rogers: Rebecca is a 2006 graduate of Boston College Law School, and has worked with slnlaw since 2013. She previously worked as an intellectual property litigation attorney for Fish & Richardson in Boston, Massachusetts, and clerked for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. Rebecca has helped clients with wage and hour disputes, including employee misclassification, late or unpaid wages or commissions, retaliation under the Wage Act, and advice to both employees and employers about wage and hour law compliance.

Jenna Ordway: Jenna is a 2013 graduate of Quinnipiac Law School, and also earned an LLM in Taxation from Boston University in 2015. She has been affiliated with slnlaw since 2011, first as a law clerk and then as an attorney. Jenna has been recognized since 2019 as a "Rising Star" by Massachusetts Superlawyers. Jenna has helped clients assess their rights under the wage and hour laws, including employee misclassification, untimely payment of final wages, late or unpaid commissions, retaliation, and advice to small business owners about wage and hour law compliance.

Elijah Bresley: Eli is a 2014 graduate of Seton Hall Law school, and has worked with slnlaw since 2020. He previously worked for a boutique employment law firm outside of Boston, and then for the Labor and Employment department of a large Boston firm. He also spent a year clerking for the judges of the Superior Court in Hartford, Connecticut. Eli has helped clients with wage and hour claims, including late or unpaid commissions, retaliation, employee misclassification, and overtime, and litigated these claims in state and federal courts. He also advises employers about employment policies and wage and hour compliance.

Sharleen Tinnin: Sharleen is a 2010 graduate of Northeastern University School of Law, and has been with slnlaw since 2023. Prior to joining slnlaw, she worked with King, Tilden, McEttrick & Brink, P.C. on complex civil litigation matters. She previously worked for the United States Department of Justice, and received an "Excellence in Justice" award in 2017. Sharleen has helped clients with multiple wage and hour issues, including retaliation, misclassification, and late or unpaid wages or commissions, and litigated these claims in state and federal courts.

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Navigating Massachusetts overtime law and exemptions can be complex. Our experienced team can provide expert guidance and support to ensure your business complies with regulations, preventing potential legal complications. You can use the button below to schedule a call back from a member of our team, or give us a call at 781-784-2322.

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