The answer is maybe. Whether or not a shift supervisor is entitled to overtime will turn on whether or not the "executive" exemption applies to them. The "executive" exemption is sometimes referred to as the "manager" or "supervisor" exemption. There is a four-part test that decides whether the application applies. The parts are as follows:
- the employee must be compensated on a salary basis of at least $455 per week;
- the employee's primary duty must be management of the enterprise or of a customarily recognized department or subdivision of it;
- the employee must customarily and regularly direct the work of two or more other employees; and,
- the employee must have hire or fire authority or their "suggestions and recommendations as to the hiring, firing, advancement, promotion or any other change of status of other employees [must be] given particular weight."
How these criteria apply is going to be different from employee to employee and will turn on their actual job duties and role in the workplace. For instance, a recent case regarded shift supervisors for the Eaton Corporation. Although there was evidence that they did evaluations for probationary employees, the Court ruled that the exemption may not apply if the employer did not really pay much attention to them. This case is discussed in greater length and detail on Robert Abell's Kentucky Employment Law Blog: Shift Supervisors and Overtime Pay.
Lexington, Kentucky overtime lawyer Robert Abell represents individuals and employees seeking to recover the overtime and wages they've earned but not been paid; contact him at 859-254-7076.
