Connecticut Overtime Laws: Understanding Your Rights as an Employee

Introduction

Connecticut is among a number of states that have their own overtime laws in place to protect workers. Overtime pay is an important consideration for many employees, as it can help provide additional compensation for time worked beyond an employee’s standard workweek. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at Connecticut overtime laws, including the minimum wage, overtime pay, and some exceptions to the laws.

Minimum Wage

The minimum wage is the lowest hourly wage that employers are required to pay their employees for work performed. The minimum wage is set by state and federal laws, and can vary depending on the location and type of work performed.

Connecticut’s current minimum wage is $12.00 per hour, which is higher than the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Additionally, some occupations in Connecticut have different minimum wage rates, such as tipped employees who may be paid a lower hourly wage but receive tips to make up the difference.

Overtime Pay

Overtime pay is an important consideration for many employees, particularly those who work more than 40 hours per week. Overtime pay is defined as any hours worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek and offers compensation to employees who work excessive hours.

Connecticut law requires employers to pay employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek one-and-a-half times their regular hourly pay rate for the extra hours. This is known as time-and-a-half pay and is required by law to be paid to all eligible employees.

There is no limit on the number of overtime hours that an employee can work, meaning that employers must pay eligible employees for every overtime hour worked. Additionally, employers must pay overtime pay to an eligible employee even if they did not obtain prior approval to work the additional hours.

Exceptions to Connecticut’s Overtime Laws

While Connecticut’s overtime laws generally require employers to pay time-and-a-half pay for all hours worked beyond 40 hours in a workweek, there are several exceptions to the rules.

Exempt Employees

Exempt employees are employees who, due to the type of work they perform or the job duties they have, are not eligible for overtime pay. These employees are not entitled to time-and-a-half pay for working extra hours.

To meet this exemption, employees must meet specific criteria, including:

– Being paid on a salary basis (as opposed to hourly)
– Earning a minimum salary of $684 per week ($35,568 annually)
– Performing specific job duties, such as executive, administrative, or professional duties.

These exemptions apply to executive, administrative, professional, and certain computer employees. However, some employees who may be eligible for these exemptions, but do not satisfy these criteria, would still be eligible for overtime pay.

Commissioned Employees

Employees who earn commissions may also be exempt from overtime pay. Commissioned employees typically work in sales and receive most of their compensation from commissions for sales they make.

To meet the exemption, the employee must:

– Be employed as an outside salesperson (i.e., the employee must spend most of their time outside the office selling products or services)
– Make at least 1.5 times the minimum wage for every hour they work.

Additionally, retail and service employees who earn at least half of their compensation from sales and make at least 1.5 times the minimum wage for every hour they work are also exempt from overtime pay requirements.

Farm Workers

Farm workers are another exception to Connecticut’s overtime laws. Agricultural employees who work on farms or in greenhouses are typically not entitled to overtime pay if the farm or greenhouse:

– Does not employ more than 500 man-days of labor in any calendar quarter, and
– Did not use more than 2,000 man-days of agricultural labor during any calendar year.

Conclusion

Connecticut’s overtime laws are in place to protect employees by ensuring that they receive appropriate compensation for the work they perform, including when they work more than 40 hours in a week. Employers are required to pay eligible employees time-and-a-half pay for all overtime hours worked. However, there are several exceptions to these laws that relate to the type of job duties performed by the employee. As an employee, it’s important to understand your rights and eligibility for overtime pay, and to reach out to your employer or a legal representative if you have questions.

Quick Guide to Connecticut Overtime

Connecticut Overtime Laws

Connecticut overtime laws are some of the most detailed overtime statutes in all of the United States.  For the sake of convenience, this article will discuss Sections 31-76(b), 31-76(c), and Section 31-76i of the state’s statutes on Connecticut overtime law.  This article will also discuss filing a wage claim if you believe an employer has violated Connecticut overtime law, and this section is located at the end of the article.

Specific Connecticut Overtime Laws

Some important sections of Connecticut overtime law are discussed below:

Section 31-76b Overtime pay: Definitions

This section provides definitions for “regular pay” where overtime pay is not necessarily required in the state of CT.  Regular rates include any of the following categories:

• sums paid as gifts such as Christmas gifts, a reward for service, or amounts not measured by hours worked

• payments made for occasional periods when no work is done such as vacation, holidays, illnesses, failure for the employer to provide enough work, traveling expenses, and more

• payments made by a trustee to a third party for old-age, retirement, or insurance

• extra compensation paid on Saturdays and Sundays where no more than 40 hours have been worked in the total week

Section 31-76c Length of workweek 

This Connecticut overtime law provides the general overtime rule for the state.  The law states the following:

“No employer, except as otherwise provided herein, shall employ any of his employees for a workweek longer than forty hours, unless such employee receives remuneration for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate at which he [or she] is employed.”

Therefore, according to Connecticut overtime laws, the minimum overtime wage in the state is $12.38.  Additionally, an employer can make an employee work mandatory overtime as long as they pay the employee the minimum overtime rate under Connecticut overtime law.

Section 31.76i Exceptions

These Connecticut overtime laws specify which professions may not receive overtime rates unless specified by an employer.  The exceptions under this Connecticut overtime law include the following:

• any driver or helper who have mandated maximum hours they’re allowed to work

• any employed seaman

• any announcer, news editor or chief engineer

• any executive or similar professional

• any outside salesman

• any inside salesmen who receive the majority of their commission from sales

• any taxi driver

• any delivery person associated with milk or baked goods

• any automobile salesman

• anyone employed in agriculture

• permanent paid employees in the police and firefighting forces

Filing a Wage Claim for Violation of Connecticut Overtime Law

If you believe your employer has violated Connecticut overtime laws, you’ll have to file a wage complaint with the Wage and Workplace Standards Division.  In order to obtain the proper form for the wage claim against unlawful minimum wages in Connecticut, you can visit the following website:

Make sure you follow all instructions on this website as well.  These instructions are extremely important, and you can call the Wage and Workplace Standards Division at (860) 263-6790 if you need help completing the forms.