Six-Figure Income Plus Overtime Ruling Hits Energy Sector Pay

A federal appeals court in New Orleans recently ruled that an offshore oil rig manager can get overtime despite making $200,000 a year, prompting energy sector concerns about the decision’s broad effects on industry pay practices.

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit last week issued a 12-5 decision that found Helix Solutions Group employee Michael Hewitt’s pay was calculated using a “day rate” and not by “salary basis,” and thus he didn’t qualify for an exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s time-and-a-half pay requirements for work exceeding 40 hours per week.

That is despite the ...