Yes. The American definition you posed is correct.

In the USA if you're salary it means they can work you overtime for free.

Yes, that is what “salaried” means in the US, though to comply with the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, salaried employees must make at least $684 per week ($35,568/year), and that amount is higher in some states.

I will give you a great example. I was a manager of a business that was open 7 days a week, of which I worked 5 days and had a part time employee who covered the other two. When my part-time employee was promoted to a full time position at another branch, I had to work 7 days a week until I could find somebody else, for zero extra pay. My worst run was three months without a day off (including having two other part time jobs I tried to fit in and being a single parent). Welcome to the capitalist worker-abusing centre of the world, the USA.

When you apply for a salaried job in the US, you must ask in the interview how many hours they expect and it is best to get that in writing. It is not a protected benefit. The US produces workers for exploitation; our whole upbringing primes us for this life. You have to figure out how to protect yourself and by getting burned, you learn how to play the angles, hopefully.

"Salaried" employees may be asked to put in additional time for no additional compensation. The rationale is that the salary exceeds the full-time hourly pay, and extra hours maybe expected occasionally. The catch is that when companies use salaries to avoid paying fair compensation, the company may be required to pay additional "salary" for excessive extra time. It's very hard for salaried workers to compel an employer to pay extra, and it usually requires a complaint to the Department of Labor and, perhaps, a court battle to get it.

Yes. It's legal indentured servitude. There are virtually no protections for salaried workers in the U.S. and our political class is fine with it.

Alright bunch of folks commenting. Gotta toss my hat in the ring. Salary legally in the USA is this. Your pay is based upon an agreed amount of time. Anywhere from 40 to 55 hours per week. Now notice the key part there based upon an agreed amount of time. Now once you meet that time and the company has further need of you they are supposed to pay for that. Notice again I said supposed to. In all my years in the service industry I have NEVER once been compensated past that agreed amount of time and I have worked over 110 hours in a week. I have worked over 6 months with no days off. Complained to my supervisor and was told to suck it up you are salary.

As far as my company goes, salaried means you make a set amount per annum whether you work 1 hour per week or 100.

For a start-up, I was hired on as a “contractor” instead of “employee” as I had originally been presented, so I negotiated 2 days out of the week for me to work remotely and a travel/lunch stipend. My boss also continued to treat me like a fixed-salaried employee. Closing in on a year (of working overtime), he eventually kept on complaining and pushing for me to work my full-time shift on location. (I ended up REALLY needing that time at home to work for my sanity.) In the beginning, I would meet with him and notify him that the amount of work I was given was unsustainable, and he would be very understanding and say that all I needed to do was tell him and we would figure something out. But every time I brought it up after that he would question why I couldn’t do this one extra thing, and there were numerous. When I began working in my closet at home into the wee hours of the morning so my bf wouldn’t catch me working my life away, I knew that it was time to go.

Wait, no! Why are people saying, "yes"? Salaried positions are still bound by contracts. Sometimes people don't sign a contract, but usually that's with friends/family business. It's a poor practice, not to sign an agreement. In most positions, though, salaries still depend on contracts that outline billed hours, and expectations. So, most salaried workers sign a contract for 40 hours per week, and agree to certain benefits (vacation, sick days, 401k retirement plans, medical coverage). The problem is Americans socially push the idea that work is everything; work is *family* (shudder!!). American shame each other for reasonable work-life balance, and make people feel like if they aren't "taking one for the team," in abusive jobs, that they are lazy. Social pressure, and indoctrination of work-is-the-only-point-to-living, make workers do more than their fair share. But, legally, with salaried contacts, there are specified hours, and some companies still track hours.

It is usually specified that the employee work "at least" a certain number of hours...I'm sure you can see how that would be ripe for abuse.

Salaried workers do have a schedule, however being salaried is supposed to allow a manager to make the best decisions for the company. For instance, you are scheduled to work 8-5 every day, however if there's a problem that requires you to stay late or cover someone's shift, as a salaried manager it's your responsibility to handle it. Sometimes things happen that require you to stay late or catch up on work because things don't always go according to plan. "Salary" is supposed topay you so much more than hourly workers to make this extra time you put in worth it. You also can leave or come in when you want..you don't punch a clock. In a perfect world, you are also not docked any time. If you work a lot than it isn't a big deal if you leave a few minutes early as long as you aren't affecting the business negatively. Whether you are there for your whole shift or not, you get paid the same amount. If you have a doctors appt and need to be gone for an hour, or you need to go to your daughter's dance recital, you can go and not lose money. If you are sick or take a day off, you also still get paid. (1)

I worked in retail in the UK and that wasn't true, certainly not for the company I worked for. I was in a management position and things just had to get done, even if others were sick. My equivalent hourly rate was occasionally below minimum wage. Yes, it was probably illegal and I left fairly quickly but if it happened to me, I can't imagine I'm the only one.

No. We have a set contract as with everything else. However, the employer tends to break that contract and demand more. They expect us to be so afraid of losing our jobs that we will do more and work more hours. Since the pandemic the employers have had a wake up call. They can't get us to work for peanuts. Americans have remembered what a life feels like and aren't afraid to demand more.

Lucky you

its how you see people in movies walking out of work at any given time because they get paid a set amount regardless.

Yes in most cases is considered "salary non- exempt", I work as "salary- exempt". So I get paid a yearly salary but get paid for my time like the hourly employee. (8 hr at regular, 8-10hr 1 1/2 pay, 10+ double time)

God forbid you have to off one day. You will get docked the average hourly rate (annual salary divided by 2080 hours) for the hours missed even though you put in extra hours at another time.

I work in an industry where some people freelance, but most choose to be on salary. Usually "salary" has general hours, but you are paid the same if you work extra. If the "extra" is a big change or the shifts are regularly or you regularly work outside the loosely outlined hours , your contract should be revisited. If you are not the manager or in charge of scheduling, you need to make management aware of any major change in hours. The reason people usually choose a salaried position is that the salary usually offers more than what you would make on a good week in equivalent hours. Also that money is guaranteed. Even if conditions lead to any temporary closures where you would not be needed for your shift, a salaried position guarantees you make the same money regardless. At this point, it sounds like the person is just sour on the job. They need to decide and organize their thoughts about how they think this issue could best be resolved. At this point in time, you don't want to lose

. No it does not mean that.

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Wilf... I'm glad you're the only one smart enough to see how fake this story is... I work in manufacturing... Manufacturing what? I also work 8 hours plus half hour lunch every day on salary. So you're on salary and you have set hours? 😂 Also the lady got really mad that I was doing an extra 3 hours every day. When you're on salary you are committed to doing an extra 3 hours every day. Or most contracts it says up to 300 hours a year. Or somewhere in between. So I've never heard of something call salary that you work 8 hours. The whole meaning of salary means you don't work by hours you work by time given inside of your contract which is usually nothing less than 60 hours a week.. most of the time you won't work those 60 hours but that's why the contract is set in case something happens... For you to say you have a supervisor that is leaving every day that doesn't have a punch out card for this giant business you're talking about is another piece of bs.. I could keep going all day.

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Most states in the U.S. have some kind of law that defines how many hours a work week is, and beyond that number you're supposed to be paid overtime. It's supposed to apply to salaried positions as well, but the reality is that many companies don't comply with those laws, and most states don't enforce them.

As they were chronically short-staffed in this highly-niche industry, that policy was soon rescinded.

Being paid for that in IT is rare by most companies and no longer practice. You must be talking about back in the 70s.