Am I entitled to overtime pay?

The first thing to check is whether your employer is covered by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and/or your state's wage and hour law. Because the coverage of these laws is so broad, it's likely that your employer must comply with them.

The next step is to see whether you are considered an "exempt" or a "nonexempt" employee under these laws. If you are exempt, then you are not entitled to overtime pay; if you are nonexempt, then you are entitled to overtime pay.

If you routinely exercise discretion, supervise other employees, and/or make high-level decisions, you are probably an exempt employee who is not entitled to overtime pay. To be one of these "administrative, executive, or professional" employees exempt from overtime under the law, you must be paid on a salary basis (at least $455 per week) and spend most of your time performing duties that require you to use your own discretion and independent judgment.

In addition, workers who do certain types of jobs are not entitled to overtime. Some of the more common jobs that aren't eligible for overtime are:

• independent contractors
• volunteers
• outside salespeople (that is, employees who customarily and regularly work away from the employer's business, selling or taking orders to sell goods and services)
• certain computer specialists (such as systems analysts, programmers, and software engineers) who earn at least $27.63 per hour
• employees of seasonal amusement or recreational businesses, such as ski resorts or county fairs
• newspaper deliverers
• employees who work on small farms, and
• casual domestic baby sitters and people who provide companionship to those who are unable to care for themselves (but this exception does not include those who provide nursing care, or to personal and home care aides who perform a variety of domestic services).

If you do not supervise others or make important decisions for your company, and you don't work in a field that's not eligible for overtime, then you are probably entitled to overtime pay if you work more than 40 hours in a week or, in some states, more than eight hours in a day.

If I get paid tips, can my employer pay me less than minimum wage?

It depends on how much money you make in tips and on your state's laws. Generally, an employer must pay all employees covered by state and federal wage and hour laws the federal minimum wage ($6.55 an hour as of July 24, 2008) or the state's minimum wage, whichever is higher.

The law gets a bit trickier, however, if you earn tips. Under federal law, an employer is allowed to pay a lower minimum wage -- only $2.13 an hour -- if the employee routinely earns at least $30 per month in tips. But, the employer can do this only if the worker's wages plus tips add up to at least the minimum wage for each hour worked. If the worker ends up earning less than the minimum wage even when tips are figured into the bargain, the employer has to make up the difference.

But some states, including California, don't allow employers to pay tipped employees less than the minimum wage. And some states require employers to pay a higher hourly amount to tipped employees, though still less than the state or federal minimum wage. To find out about the rules for workers who earn tips in your state, contact your state's labor department or go to www.dol.gov/esa/programs/whd/state/tipped.htm on the U.S. Department of Labor's website.