Overtime Pay Due Despite Six-Figure Income, Supreme Court Rules

A former offshore oil rig worker earning more than $200,000 a year is eligible for overtime pay under federal law, the US Supreme Court ruled.

The high court’s Wednesday ruling upheld a US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit September 2021 decision that former Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. worker Michael Hewitt wasn’t exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirement because the company paid him a day rate and not a guaranteed weekly salary.

The day-rate basis on which Hewitt was paid, “so that he receives a certain amount if he works one day in a week, ...