U.S. Supreme Court: Highly Compensated Employees Entitled to Overtime Unless FLSA Exemption Requirements Satisfied

Summary

In Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. v. Hewitt, the U.S. Supreme Court held (on the facts of that case) that an employer had improperly classified a supervisory employee earning more than $200,000 per year as an exempt "executive" employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and that the employee therefore was also entitled to overtime pay. The case serves as a powerful reminder that employers cannot assume an employee is ineligible for overtime simply because the employee is highly paid and performs at least one exempt duty.