this is a 2 person medical office-we were hired as salaried employees and given 4 wks vacation--we have never been paid for any overtime hours as he considers us salaried --and thinks this means we don't get it-- if we leave our job does he have to pay us for the month if we only work one or two days-- and give us our vac pay as it started again 1/07-- no accrued time-if you don't use it you lose it!! is his policy

we have no employee handbook because he did not want to do one

if we leave our job does he have to pay us for the month if we only work one or two days No. You only have to be paid through the last day you actually work.

and give us our vac pay as it started again 1/07-- no accrued time-if you don't use it you lose it!! Are you asking whether you have to be paid for earned but unused vacation if employment ends? If so, ND does require the pay out of vacation upon separation if the employee has worked for the employer for at least a year and has earned paid time off.

we have no employee handbook because he did not want to do one Employers aren't required to have employee handbooks and very small organizations often don't.

I strongly suspect your employer is in violation of wage and hour laws due to the fact that you and your co-worker almost certainly are non-exempt employees and thus must be paid for your overtime. You may contact ND's department of labor and file a complaint for your unpaid wages.

Whether you are entitled to overtime depends on your job duties. Salaried is only a pay method; what matters if you are exempt or non-exempt.

If you leave your job he has to pay you for whatever time you actually worked. He does not have to pay you for any time you do not work.

In your state, you have to be paid for any accrued but unused vacation time. That does NOT necessarily mean all the time you would have been eligible if you stayed the entire year.

There is no legal requirement that he provide an employee handbook.

I'm the nurse and the other employee is the office mgr

( the initial reply was for ND not NC--I clicked NC box on screen

what is exempt-non exempt

Well, since you're on the North Dakota forum we assumed you meant ND. :)

The only thing that would be different in NC is that NC law allows the employer to withhold unused vacation IF there is a written policy to that effect which spells out the terms of forfeiture, which does not sound as if it is the case for you.

Exempt means exempt from overtime. The Fair Labor Standards Act, which is the primary law in the US governing the payment of wages, has determined that overtime must be paid UNLESS the employee's job duties classify him into one of the categories that have been established as being exempt. An employee who is non-exempt must be paid overtime if they work over 40 hours in a week.

The attached link will give you information as to whether you, as a nurse, can be considered exempt:

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17n_nurses.htm

We would have to know something about the office manager's duties to know if she qualifies. If so, it would probably be under the administrative exemption.

http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/fs17c_administrative.htm

First, according to the FLSA, you are eligible for Overtime if your salary is $23,660 or less or if you make less than $455/per week. There are many factors to consider but if you need moireminformation you should do some research on Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). You will find plenty of information online.

If you were to leave your job, it all depends on when you leave and how long you have been with your company because than you can determine how much vacation you have earned. Since you do not have a handbook, you most likely do not have any monthly accruals where you can determine how what your monthly accrual rate is. If you were to leave your job and had unused vacation, you should get paid for that your supervisor would need to determine how much to pay you. He will still need to pay you as long as those days you are entitled to.

Just for the record, it doesn't matter how much you make per hour, weekly, or annually. What determines if you're eligible for OT is whether or not you are considered exempt or non-exempt.

cbg has provided the links to explain what exemption would be in your situation, but earnings have nothing to do with determining whether or not you are entitled to OT.

ETA: I would just like to point out that lisayu was correct in the sense that exempt employees MUST be paid a minimum of $455 a week because of their exemption, but there are some employees that make far more than that and are non-exempt, and therefore are eligible for OT.

And *I* would like to point out that it is possible that this employer is not even subject to the federal FLSA.
http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/scope/screen9.asp

However, even if not, the employer would be subject to the state labor laws (such as they are), which includes provisions for minimum wage and overtime (among other things).
http://www.nclabor.com/wh/fact%20sheets/Handy%20Ref%20Guide%20-%20Feb%20071.pdf