Overtime not for all workers.

Byline: ON THE JOB by Bureau of Labor and Industries For The Register-Guard

Question: My daughter works in a movie theater, taking tickets and selling concessions. She makes pretty good money - well over the minimum wage. However, last week she worked more than 40 hours and her boss said they were not required by law to pay her overtime. I thought all hourly employees had to be paid overtime - don't they?

Answer: Not in all cases. Although we have written a lot about employees who are exempt from both minimum wage and overtime, there is another group of workers that has not received much attention in our columns: those who are entitled to minimum wage but not to overtime.

For these employees, employers must still make sure that their wages always equal at least the applicable minimum wage for every hour they work in the pay period. In Oregon, this means that these employees must receive the equivalent of at least $7.25 an hour ($7.50 starting in January of 2006 - due to the state law that indexes the minimum wage on an annual basis). However, both federal and state laws also provide that these employees are not subject to the usual overtime requirements.

Who are these employees who are entitled to minimum wage but not overtime? It is a fairly small group and among them are motion picture theater employees like the daughter in the question above. Also included in this category are:

Salespersons, parts persons and mechanics of automotive or farm implement dealerships.

Most agricultural employees.

Employees engaged in retail sales or services, as long as they are paid on a commission and receive at least 1 1/2 times the minimum wage for every hour they work. In Oregon, this means that their commissions must amount to the equivalent of at least $10.88 an hour.

Employees of timber companies employing eight or fewer employees.

Domestic employees who live on the premises.

Seamen (or women).

Truck drivers or their helpers covered by the federal Motor Carriers Act.

Salespersons, parts persons or mechanics in automotive or farm implement dealerships.

Certain announcers, news editors or chief engineers of radio or television stations.

It is important to note that employers are still subject to the usual record keeping requirements for these employees.

Question: I run a residential care facility, and some of my employees work shifts that extend well into the evening and early morning hours. However, in many cases, much of their time is spent sleeping. Since they probably would have been sleeping at that hour anyway, do we have to pay them for that time?

Answer: It depends on how you schedule these employees. If they work shifts of 24 hours or less, you must pay for all of that time, even if some of it is spent sleeping.

However, if you were to schedule these employees for shifts of more than 24 hours, you would be able to deduct up to eight hours of sleep time (provided they are actually sleeping during those hours) and bona fide meal periods from their wages for that shift. But in order to do this, you must provide adequate sleeping facilities for the employees and they must receive a minimum of five continuous hours of sleep for the night. You must also inform the employee in advance that they will be subject to this pay arrangement.