Nonexempt employees are generally entitled to be paid overtime (time- and- a- half of their regular rate of pay for all hours they work over 40 in one workweek). The law basically uses two tests to determine if an employee is nonexempt - salary AND duties (you must meet both tests). Generally, if you get paid by the hour, you are nonexempt. However, even if you get paid a salary you may still be entitled to overtime because even someone on salary still has to do exempt duties or else they are entitled to overtime. See " Are You Exempt" for more detail on this issue.