Being Denied Overtime: Your Rights State by State

My employer isn't paying me overtime. Workers' Rights laws have a federal baseline that applies everywhere, but each state layers on its own statute, deadlines, and remedies. Pick your state below for the specific rules — or read the federal overview first.

Overtime Pay: the federal baseline

The rule is older than your grandparents and it hasn't changed: work more than 40 hours in a single workweek and your employer owes you at least 1.5 times your regular rate for every hour past 40. That's the Fair Labor Standards Act, on the books since 1938.

It covers most hourly workers automatically. If you're salaried but earn less than $684 a week ($35,568 a year), you're owed overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. no matter what your job title says. Above that salary line, your employer can call you "exempt" — but only if your actual day-to-day duties fit one of the narrow categories the DOL spells out (executive, administrative, professional, computer, or outside sales). The label isn't enough; the duties have to match.

One thing worth knowing: the DOL tried to raise the salary threshold to $58,656 in 2024, which would have pulled millions of mid-level salaried workers back into overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. eligibility. A federal judge in Texas vacated the rule in November 2024, so the line is still $35,568 going into 2026.

When does it apply?

You're entitled to overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. if all three of these are true:

You worked more than 40 hours in a single workweek (your employer's defined seven-day stretch).
You're classified as "non-exempt" — and remember, your employer doesn't get to decide that unilaterally.
Your employer is covered by the FLSA. Most are: either the business does $500,000+ in annual sales and touches interstate commerce (enterprise coverage), or you personally handle goods, calls, or work that crosses state lines (individual coverage, which catches almost any modern job).

The exemption test has two parts — your employer has to clear both.

Salary test: You earn at least $684/week ($35,568/year).
Duties test: Your primary duties have to actually fit one of these five buckets:
- Executive — you run a department or unit and direct at least two full-time employees.
- Administrative — your work is office or non-manual, tied to running the business, and you exercise real independent judgment on significant matters.
- Professional — the job requires advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning (doctors, lawyers, engineers, accountants).
- Computer employee — systems analyst, programmer, or software engineer earning at least $684/week (or $27.63/hr).
- Outside sales — you regularly make sales or take orders away from the employer's place of business.

Three myths your employer might lean on:

"Salaried employees don't get overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules.." Wrong — salary alone proves nothing. Both tests have to be met.
"HR says you're exempt." Misclassification is one of the most common wage violations the DOL finds. The law decides, not the title on your offer letter.
"You signed a contract waiving overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules.." That waiver isn't worth the paper it's printed on. You cannot legally sign away FLSA rights.

What to Do If Your Employer Doesn't Pay Overtime

Cases get won on records, not memory. Start there.

Step 1: Keep your own time log. Note when you start, when you stop, and every break. A notebook, a phone app, even photos of the time clock — anything contemporaneous beats your boss's word in front of a DOL investigator.

Step 2: Check the math on your pay stubs. Pull every week you cracked 40 hours. The overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. hours have to be paid at 1.5× your regular rate, and the "regular rate" includes most non-discretionary bonuses and commissions — which is why a lot of overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. claims are even bigger than people first think.

Step 3: Put it in writing. A short email to HR or your manager asking them to correct the underpayment is enough. Save the response (or the silence).

Step 4: File the complaint. The DOL Wage and Hour Division takes complaints at 1-866-487-9243 or online at dol.gov. You can also call an employment attorney — most take overtimeUnder the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, non-exempt employees must be paid at least 1.5× their regular hourly rate for hours worked beyond 40 in a workweek. State laws can require more generous overtime rules. cases on contingency, so there's no money up front.

Pick your state for the local rules

State law often controls the deadline, the penalty, and which agency hears the complaint. Choose yours to see the deep state-specific guide for overtime pay.

What should you NOT do?

Don't work off the clock. If your boss tells you to clock out but finish the task, that's textbook wage theftWhen an employer fails to pay the wages legally owed — including unpaid overtime, off-the-clock work, kept tips, or below-minimum-wage pay. It is illegal under federal and state wage-and-hour laws.. Make a quick note of when it happened and what you were asked to do.

Don't take "you're exempt" at face value. Run the salary and duties tests yourself. If anything's off, you may be owed years of back pay.

Don't sit on it. The FLSA gives you 2 years from each paycheck (3 if the violation was willful). Wait too long and the earliest weeks fall off the back end of your claim.

Don't quit before you file. You can file while you're still on the payroll, and retaliation for filing a wage complaint is itself illegal under FLSA §15(a)(3).