Connecticut Labor Laws for Salaried Employees

Connecticut labor laws for salaried employees cover areas such as minimum wage, overtime and paycheck deductions. The laws also help ensure that employers accurately classify workers as salaried employees. Understanding the state’s labor laws for salaried employees can help employers avoid fines and penalties.

Connecticut labor laws require employers to accurately classify salaried employees as exempt or nonexempt. Exempt salaried employees are responsible for performing functions such as hiring and terminating workers, and creating organizational policies. They also make decisions that impact an organization’s sales and revenues. Examples of exempt salaried jobs are CEOs, chief financial officers, chief administrative officers and human resources directors. Nonexempt salaried employees perform work that that does not require consistent independent decision making. Examples of nonexempt salaried jobs are bookkeepers, secretaries and telemarketers.

As of April 2011, the minimum wage for nonexempt salaried employees in Connecticut is $8.25 an hour or $330 a week. The minimum wage for exempt salaried employees in Connecticut is $455 a week, according to Fair Labor Standards Act regulations.

Connecticut requires employers to pay nonexempt salaried employees overtime equal to 1 1/2 times their standard hourly wages after employees work more than 40 hours during a week. Employers do not have to pay employees overtime based on the numbers of hours they work each day. Overtime for nonexempt salaried employees is calculated by taking the employees’ standard weekly wages and dividing them by the amount of hours the employee normally works during the week. For example, employees who earn $1,500 in standard gross weekly wages and who work 40 hours a week have standard hourly wages of $37.50. These employees’ overtime hourly rate is $56.25. When these nonexempt salaried employees work more than 40 hours during a week, their employers must pay them an hourly rate of $56.25 for all time they work above 40 hours.

Employers are allowed to deduct federal, state and local income taxes from salaried employees’ paychecks. They can also withhold union dues, health insurance premiums and employee paycheck advances from gross wages. However, to take deductions other than authorized federal, state and local taxes from employees’ paychecks, employers must receive approval from employees first.

It is the employer’s responsibility to keep records on employees. Required in the records are employees’ names, home addresses, occupation, hours worked each day and week and standard and overtime rates of pay. Deductions employers take from employees’ paychecks and the total amount of gross and net wages employees earn also must be in the records.