If You are a Computer Professional, You Are Entitled to Overtime in Pennsylvania

Although federal law makes computer programmers, analysts, software engineer and the like exempt from overtime requirements, Pennsylvania's corresponding statute, the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act ("PMWA"), does not exempt computer professionals from overtime benefits.

Here is the short story about overtime.

Everyone is presumed to be entitled to overtime unless a law has stated that certain employee classifications are "exempt" from this requirement.  For all Americans, the exempted classifications are set forth in the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA").  Many states, including Pennsylvania, have their own overtime laws, such as PMWA. 

There are severe penalties for failing to comply with state or federal overtime laws, the most notable of which is that employees who prove violations are in most cases entitled to receive, in addition to their unpaid overtime, a penalty equal to the amount of their unpaid overtime.  Thus, you can get $2 for every $1 of overtime you were not paid!

The most common exempt classifications under FLSA are bona fide executives, professionals, outside sales persons, computer professionals and administrative assistants.  So, if you fall into one of these classifications, you are not entitled to be paid overtime under FLSA. 

In most cases, the PMWA mirrors the FLSA, so exempt employees under FLSA are also exempt under PMWA. 

However, this is not the case where computer professionals are concerned.  Simply stated, PMWA does not include computer professionals within its exempt classifications. Thus, if you work in Pennsylvania and are a computer programmer, analyst, software engineer, etc. then you must be paid overtime.

NOTE:  Click on link above for Outside Salesperson to see why PMWA is more generous to sales persons than is FLSA.

If you believe you are entitled to overtime for which you have not been paid, you will definitely want to consider contacting an attorney to protect and/or prosecute your rights.

John A. Gallagher, Esquire, Philadelphia Area Employment Attorney

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