Overtime Pay Law Summaries
Kentucky, Overtime Pay Law Summaries
Kentucky's overtime pay law is codified in the Kentucky Revised Statutes Annotated at Title XXVII, Chapter 337. The full text of the law is available at Wages-Hours ¶18-41,001 .
DEFINITIONS
“Employer” is any person, either individual, corporation, partnership, agency, or firm, who employs an employee and includes any person, either individual, corporation, partnership, agency, or firm, acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee (Sec. 337.010, as amended by Ch. 154 (S. 139), L. 1998).
“Employee” is any person employed by or suffered or permitted to work for an employer, but does not include (Sec. 337.010, as amended by Ch. 154 (S. 139), L. 1998):
agricultural employees;
executive, administrative, supervisory, or professional employees; or outside salespersons or collectors;
employees of the United States;
domestics employed in private homes, except where there are more than one domestic servant regularly employed;
learners, apprentices, workers with disabilities, sheltered workshop employees, and students, as classified by the Commissioner of Workplace Standards who issues certificates authorizing employment at subminimum wages;
retail store, service industry, hotel, motel, and restaurant operations (whose average annual gross volume of sales is less than $95,000 for the five preceding years exclusive of excise taxes at the retail level) employees or employees employed by immediate family members;
babysitters in employers' homes, or companions to sick, convalescing, or elderly persons whose principal duties do not include housekeeping;
persons who deliver newspapers to consumers;
emergency employees subject to regulation by the Secretary of the Personnel Cabinet or others who receive overtime pay rates as necessary for the efficient operation of government and the protection of affected employees;
employees of organized nonprofit camps, religious or nonprofit educational conference centers that do not operate for more than seven months in any calendar year; or
employees whose function is to provide 24-hour residential care on an employer's premises in a parental role to children who are primarily dependent, neglected and abused and who are in the care of private, nonprofit childcare facilities licensed by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
persons, employed by a third-party employer or agency, who provide in-home companionship services, such as in-home fellowship and limited housework, for a sick, convalescing or elderly person (Sec. 337.285(e), as added by S. 45, L. 2004, effective July 12, 2004).
COVERAGE
All employees, except those in certain occupations as explained at below, are covered by Kentucky's overtime pay law.
EXCEPTIONS
Agricultural employees; executive; administrative, supervisory, or professional employees; outside salespersons or collectors; federal employees; domestics; learners, apprentices, workers with disabilities in sheltered workshops, and students; retail store, service industry, hotel, motel, and restaurant operation employees; babysitters; companions; newspaper deliverypersons; emergency employees; and camp employees, are not covered by Kentucky's overtime pay law.
In addition, the overtime pay requirement does not apply to employees of retail stores engaged in work connected with selling, purchasing and distributing merchandise, wares, goods, articles or commodities; or to employees of restaurant, hotel and motel operations; to employees as defined and exempted from the overtime provision of the Fair Labor Standards Act concerning interstate motor carriers, automotive, aircraft and farm implement sales, seamen and taxicab drivers; to employees whose function is to provide 24-hour residential care on the employer's premises in a parental role to children who are primarily dependent, neglected and abused and who are in the care of licensed, private nonprofit child care facilities; or to persons, employed by a third-party employer or agency, who provide in-home companionship services for a sick, convalescing or elderly person (Sec. 337.285, as amended by H. 474, L. 2002; by Act 329 (H. 596), L. 2002; and by S. 45, L. 2004, effective July 12, 2004).
WHAT THE EMPLOYER MUST DO
No employer may employ any of its employees for a workweek longer than 40 hours, unless the employee receives compensation for employment in excess of 40 hours in a workweek at a rate of not less than one and one-half times the employee's hourly wage rate (Sec. 337.285, as amended by H. 474, L. 2002; and by Act 329 (H. 596), L. 2002).
County/city employees.- Notwithstanding the general overtime provision described just above or any other chapter of Kentucky law to the contrary, upon written request by a county or city employee, made freely and without coercion, pressure, or suggestion by the employer, and upon a written agreement reached between the employer and the county or city employee before the performance of the work, a county or city employee who is authorized to work one or more hours in excess of the prescribed hours per week may be granted compensatory leave on an hour-for-hour basis. If these requirements are met and the employee is not exempt from the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, the employee may be granted comp time in lieu of overtime pay, at the rate of not less than one and one-half hours for each hour the county or city employee is authorized to work in excess of 40 hours in a workweek (Sec. 337.285, as amended by Ch. 75 (H. 365), L. 2008).
Seventh-day rule.- Any employer that permits any employee to work seven days in any one workweek must pay the employee at the rate of time and a half for the time worked on the seventh day, except in cases in which the employee is not permitted to work more than 40 hours during the workweek. In that case, the employer may credit against the overtime payable under the seventh-day rule any overtime paid to the employees for the same hours under the requirements of any other law or contract (Sec. 337.050).
The seventh-day rule does not apply to telephone exchanges having less than 500 subscribers; nor to stenographers, bookkeepers, or technical assistants of licensed professionals; nor to any employees subject to the Federal Railway Labor Act and seamen or persons engaged in operating boats or other water transportation facilities upon navigable streams; nor to persons engaged in icing railroad cars; nor to common carriers under the supervision of the Department of Vehicle Regulation (Sec. 337.050).
Collective bargaining.- Nothing in Kentucky's overtime pay law interferes with, impedes, or in any way diminishes the right of employees to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing in order to establish wages in excess of the applicable rates or to establish hours of work shorter than the set by the overtime pay law (Sec. 337.405).
NOTICE
Every employer subject to Kentucky's overtime pay law, regulations, or orders must keep copies of summaries of wage and hour laws and regulations posted in a conspicuous and accessible place in or about the workplace. Employers will be furnished copies of the summaries, orders and regulations by the state, on request, without charge. However, the failure to mail the summaries to an employer does not relieve the employer from the duty of complying with the posting provision (Sec. 337.325).
ENFORCEMENT
The Commissioner of Workplace Standards, under the direction and supervision of the Secretary of the Labor Cabinet, administers and enforces the overtime pay law.
Investigatory authority.- Every employer must permit the Secretary of the Labor Cabinet or an authorized agent to question any of its employees in the place of employment and during work hours in respect to the wages paid to and the hours worked by the employees (Sec. 337.340).
Confidential records.- The Labor Cabinet may not disclose the identity of any individual filing a complaint or request for inspection under Kentucky's overtime pay law, except as necessary for enforcement, and then only with the specific written permission of the complainant (Sec. 337.345).
Information secured from inspection of the records or from inspection of the employer's premises by the Secretary of the Labor Cabinet or an authorized representative will be held confidential and will not be disclosed or be open to any person. However, information may be made available to officials who administer laws under the secretary's jurisdiction; other state or federal agencies that enforce provisions of the overtime pay law; and the Wage and Hour and Public Contracts Division of the U.S. Department of Labor (Sec. 337.345).
Court actions.- At the written request of an employee paid less than the amount to which the employee is entitled under the provisions of Kentucky's overtime pay law, the Secretary of the Labor Cabinet may take an assignment of the wage claim in trust for the assigning employee and may bring any legal action necessary to collect the claim. The employer will be required to pay costs and reasonable attorney's fees (Sec. 337.385).
An employer that pays an employee less overtime compensation than that to which the employee is entitled will be liable to the affected employee for the full amount of the wages and overtime compensation, less any amount actually paid, for an additional equal amount as liquidated damages, and for costs and reasonable attorney's fees (Sec. 337.385).
However, if the employer shows to the satisfaction of the court that the act or omission giving rise to the action was in good faith and that it had reasonable grounds for believing that it was not in violation of the law, the court may not award liquidated damages. Any agreement between the employee and the employer to work for less than the applicable wage rate is not a defense to the action (Sec. 337.385).
WHO TO CONTACT
Contact the Commissioner of Workplace Standards in the Labor Cabinet at 1047 U.S. Highway 127 South, Suite 4, Frankfort, KY 40601. Telephone: (502) 564-3070. Fax: (502) 564-5387.
RECORDKEEPING
Every employer must keep a record of the amount paid each pay period to each employee; the hours worked each day and each week by each employee; and any other information required by the Secretary of the Labor Cabinet. These records must be kept on file for at least one year after entry (Sec. 337.320).
Open records.- The records must be open to the inspection and transcript of the Commissioner of Workplace Standards or an authorized representative at any reasonable time. Every employer must furnish to the Secretary of the Labor Cabinet or an authorized representative on demand a sworn statement of them. The secretary may require the statement to be upon forms prescribed or approved by him or her (Sec. 337.320).
POSTING
Every employer subject to Kentucky's overtime pay law, regulations, or orders must keep copies of summaries of wage and hour laws and regulations posted in a conspicuous and accessible place in or about the workplace. Employers will be furnished copies of the summaries, orders and regulations by the state, on request, without charge. However, the failure to mail the summaries to an employer does not relieve the employer from the duty of complying with the posting provision (Sec. 337.325).
PENALTIES
Wage violations.- Any employer that pays or agrees to pay wages at a rate less than the applicable overtime compensation rate, or any wage order, will be assessed a civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 (Sec. 337.990, as amended by Act 329 (H. 596), L. 2002).
Any employer that violates compensation provisions for the seventh day of work will be assessed a civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000.
Records violations.- Any employer that violates the recordkeeping and posting provisions of the overtime pay law or fails to keep and preserve any required records, or falsifies any record, or refuses to make any record or transcription accessible to the Commissioner of Workplace Standards or an authorized representative, will be assessed a civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 (Sec. 337.990, as amended by Act 329 (H. 596), L. 2002).
Interference with enforcement.- Any employer that willfully hinders or delays the Commissioner of Workplace Standards or an authorized representative in the performance of their enforcement duties will be assessed a civil penalty of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 (Sec. 337.990, as amended by Act 329 (H. 596), L. 2002).
Discrimination.- Any employer that discharges or in any other manner discriminates against an employee because the employee has made any complaint to his or her employer, to the Commissioner of Workplace Standards, or to an authorized representative that the employee has not been paid wages in accordance with the overtime pay law, or its regulations, or because the employee has caused to be instituted or is about to cause to be instituted any enforcement proceeding, or because the employee has testified or is about to testify in any such proceeding, will be in violation of the overtime pay law and will be assessed a civil penalty of not less than one $100 nor more than $1,000 (Sec. 337.990, as amended by Act 329 (H. 596), L. 2002).
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