lawyer

Hiring employees can help a growing small business meet increasing demand. If you are just beginning to add staff, there are federal employment laws you must adhere to. Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938 that established a federal minimum wage and overtime work rules. The Act requires employers to pay certain workers extra for overtime work. Other aspects of work hours, such as holiday work, flexible schedules and shift work, are not subject to federal regulations.

The Fair Labor Standards Act defines overtime work as hours worked beyond 40 in a single work week. According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Law Guide, any company that engages in interstate commerce and has more than $500,000 in annual revenue is required to pay workers at a rate of one hand a half times their normal pay rate for overtime work. For example, if a worker earns an hourly wage of $10, he would get $15 an hour for any hours in excess of 40 hours during a work week. Employees at businesses that make less than $500,000 may also be subject to the overtime work rule in any work week they engage in interstate commerce.

The time-and-a-half pay requirement for overtime work does not apply to employees in certain professions. Employers do not need to give extra overtime compensation to salaried employees such as professionals, executives or administrators. This means a salaried professional like an accountant, financial analyst or lawyer could work much more than 40 hours weeks without getting any extra pay. Other employees that are exempt from overtime laws include farm workers, newspaper delivery workers, air carrier employees and taxi drivers.