Ohio Overtime Labor Law Regulations

In Ohio, the overtime labor laws are quite similar to the overtime laws in many of the states that we’ve already looked at. And that means, as I’ve gotten into before, that the Ohio overtime laws are also similar in many respects to the federal overtime labor laws contained in the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Does that mean we shouldn’t look at the Ohio laws? Of course not! We ought to look at them for the simple fact that they exist, meaning that Ohio has overtime laws on its books compared to states that don’t have overtime laws at all. What’s that mean? It means that all workers (with some exceptions) in Ohio are ensured to get overtime.

On the other hand, theoretically speaking, if Ohio didn’t have overtime laws, the only law governing this aspect of wage labor would be the federal FLSA. This law only covers certain businesses—large interstate businesses with operations inside and outside of Ohio, and those that take in more than $500,000 in revenue per year. Certain types of businesses, such as schools, hospitals, and governments, also are always covered by the FLSA. Small businesses, on the other hand, in our theoretical discussion, wouldn’t be required by federal law to pay overtime.

But Ohio does have an overtime law, so all businesses (with some exception) are required to pay their employees time and a half for all time spent working in a week over 40 hours.

If you’ve noticed, I keep saying “with exceptions.” Well, what are those exceptions? For Ohio, the overtime labor law states that agricultural employees are exempt from, or do not have to be paid, overtime requirements. Also excluded are employees that are exempt from Ohio’s minimum wage requirements. The federal FLSA also has its fair share of exclusions, such as those that exempt professional, administrative, and executive type employees.