My wife is being told that she and the other teachers are not to be paid overtime. I have read the exempt and nonexempt laws and believe that I am reading them correctly, and they state that they are to be paid overtime. They are not salary, and are licensed through DCF. Therefore they are not accredited with the State Board of Education. Am I correct in thinking that they are due overtime rates for any hours over 40?

Also they have mandatory meetings and work nights that they don't get paid for at all. This too is illegal correct?

If they are being paid hourly then yes, they must be paid OT if they work more than 40 hours in a week. They also must be paid for the mandatory meetings.

Not sure it's quite so clear that they are required to be paid overtime. Day care teachers may fall under the "professional" and "educational" exemptions to the same extent as other teaching professionals. The regulations state that the salary basis test does not apply to teaching professionals.

See the attached DOL fact sheet on day care/preschool teachers, which includes a discussion of attendance at mandatory meetings and training sessions: http://www.dol.gov/esa/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs46.pdf

I learn something every day. CAH's post prompted me to go to www.dol.gov, where I found (the bold face is my addition)

Teachers
Teachers are exempt if their primary duty is teaching, tutoring, instructing or lecturing in the activity of imparting knowledge, and if they are employed and engaged in this activity as a teacher in an educational establishment. Exempt teachers include, but are not limited to, regular academic teachers; kindergarten or nursery school teachers; teachers of gifted or disabled children; teachers of skilled and semi-skilled trades and occupations; teachers engaged in automobile driving instruction; aircraft flight instructors; home economics teachers; and vocal or instrument music teachers. The salary and salary basis requirements do not apply to bona fide teachers. Having a primary duty of teaching, tutoring, instructing or lecturing in the activity of imparting knowledge includes, by its very nature, exercising discretion and judgment.

I did find one website that called the exemption into question if the facility is not recognized by the state as an educational institution.

There are actual something like 100 or so Exempt classifications, only 4 of which have a salaried basis requirement. In the so-called "white collar" group, doctors, lawyers, teachers and certain IT employees can maybe (depending on following the rules) be paid on a hourly basis and still be Exempt. Outside Sales does not actually have a specified payment basis, so in theory you could pay such an employee as Exempt Hourly. I am not sure why anyone would want to, Outside Sales are generally paid by commission only, but it is legally possible.

If you move outside the "white collar" exceptions, then there are a huge number of possible exceptions that allow employees to be paid on a Hourly basis without an overtime premium. Sheepherders. Fisherfolk. Movie theater attendants. Mechanics worker for Auto Dealers. Many other industry specific exceptions. These many, many exceptions were actually mostly part of the original FLSA law written in the 1930s.

Being licensed as care providers leads me to believe they are essentially babysitters as opposed to say, preschool teachers. If this is an regular all day day care center where the teachers are primarily caring for the physical needs of the children, the exemption doesn't apply.

The salary rule can apply. However, the Exemption regulation for "teachers", under the "learned profession" says that to be exempt the education center must be licensed and accredited through the state board of education. Daycare centers are licensed through DCF( Department of Children and Families), so doesn't that settle it right there?

Not necessarily. A "teacher" is not the same as a caregiver. It's going to depend on exactly what her duties are.

A day care/nursery school teacher might fall under one of two exemptions, depending on the particular facts:

1. The “learned professional” exemption requires that (i) the teacher must be paid on a salary basis not less than $455 a week, (ii) the teacher’s primary duty must be either imparting knowledge, or some other type of work which is intellectual rather than manual in nature, and (iii) the work being performed by the teacher must require “advanced knowledge in the field of science or learning” which is “customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction,” meaning the requirements must include at a minimum a four year degree from an accredited college or university in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education or a related field. Note: the learned professional exemption can be satisfied even if the day care center is not licensed by the state's governing body for education.

2. The separate, specific "educational" or teacher's exemption does not have minimum educational or academic degree requirements for bona fide teaching professionals in educational establishments, and unlike the “learned professional exemption” the teacher's exemption does not have a minimum salary requirement. In order to satisfy the teacher's exemption, the teacher must be employed by and performing teaching duties in an “educational establishment.”

The term “educational establishment” is defined in 29 C.F.R. § 541.204(b) to mean "an elementary or secondary school system, an institution of higher education or other educational institution. Sections 3(v) and 3(w) of the Act define elementary and secondary schools as those day or residential schools that provide elementary or secondary education, as determined under State law. Under the laws of most States, such education includes the curriculums in grades 1 through 12; under many it includes also the introductory programs in kindergarten. Such education in some States may also include nursery school programs in elementary education and junior college curriculums in secondary education. The term “other educational establishment” includes special schools for mentally or physically disabled or gifted children, regardless of any classification of such schools as elementary, secondary or higher. Factors relevant in determining whether post-secondary career programs are educational institutions include whether the school is licensed by a state agency responsible for the state's educational system or accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting organization for career schools. Also, for purposes of the exemption, no distinction is drawn between public and private schools, or between those operated for profit and those that are not for profit."