May 12, 2025
The “salary basis” requirement is a necessary element in deciding whether an employee qualifies under the Fair Labor Standards Act’s executive, administrative, and professional exemption. To qualify, an employee must be paid on a salary basis at least $684 a week and perform certain duties. In order to qualify for the reduced duties test for highly compensated employees, an employee must annually earn at least $107,432.
Recently, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Michigan, held that for an employee to be paid a salary, the employee must receive a consistent payment each week that is not dependent on the number of hours worked. In Pickens v. Hamilton-Ryker IT Solutions, Pickens, a pipe inspector, filed a claim under the FLSA for unpaid overtime compensation. Mr. Pickens alleged that his employer misclassified him as an exempt employee, and he should have been classified as a non-exempt employee entitled to overtime pay. Mr. Pickens was paid $100 per hour with a guaranteed weekly amount of $800. Mr. Pickens also received $100 an hour for all hours in a week that he worked over eight hours.
According to the Sixth Circuit, under this overly flexible pay practice, Mr. Pickens was really paid hourly and not a fixed salary. Mr. Pickens’ employer failed to pay Mr. Pickens a salary because his weekly guaranteed pay of $800 was not equivalent to a true week of work and was not equivalent to his usual actual weekly earnings. (Mr. Pickens averaged approximately $274,000 per year). To be paid a salary, the employee must receive a predetermined amount each pay period that does not fluctuate based on the number of hours worked. Here, Mr. Pickens’ weekly pay varied greatly depending on how many hours over eight that he worked. Consequently, his weekly guarantee did not function as a true salary even where it exceeded the minimum weekly salary threshold of $684.
If you have any questions about this topic, please contact Dean E. Leazenby or any member of Warrick & Boyn, LLP.