Mandatory Overtime Labor Laws Governing Businesses in the State of West Virginia

West Virginia has its own overtime law that we should definitely take a look at. It follows the basic tenants of overtime laid out in the federal regulations on overtime labor. That law, as we’ve mentioned it before, is called the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA.

Those basic tenants include the length of the legal work week, which is 40 hours, and the rule that if an employee works more than those 40 hours in a week, his or her employer is required to pay him or her at least one and a half times their normal pay rate.

West Virginia, though, has some interesting exceptions to the overtime rule that we should look at. These exceptions are really exemptions, or groups of employees and occupation types that are not legally mandated to receive overtime (unless of course the employer has some sort of agreement with them).

The first exemption to the West Virginia overtime law is the exemption for any employee that is already exempt from the minimum wage law. Other exemptions include those for mechanics, part sales people, and vehicle salesmen, all who deal with cars or trucks or other vehicles.

West Virginia also adds in its overtime law an interesting clause about people who participate in ridesharing programs. The law states that those people aren’t automatically entitled to overtime just because they are participating in that ridesharing program.

The West Virginia law also has what is called “mandatory overtime” for nurses, whether they are certified, licensed practical nurses, or registered nurses in patient or clinical care settings. This law, though, does not include certified nurse anesthetists. The law basically says that a hospital cannot make these nurses work overtime if the nurse believes those extra hours will compromise their patient care skills. And if a nurse does end up working 12 or more hours straight, they must be given at least 8 hours off afterward.