778.313—Computing overtime pay under the Act for employees compensated on task basis.
(a)
An example of the operation of a plan of the second type discussed in § 778.312 may serve to illustrate the effects on statutory overtime computations of payment on a task basis. Assume the following facts: The employment agreement establishes a basic hourly rate of $5 per hour, provides for the payment of $7.50 per hour for overtime work (in excess of the basic workday or workweek) and defines the basic workday as 8 hours, and the basic workweek as 40 hours, Monday through Friday. It further provides that the assembling of a machine constitutes a day's work. An employee who completes the assembling job in less than 8 hours will be paid 8 hours' pay at the established rate of $5 per hour and will receive pay at the “overtime” rate for hours worked after the completion of the task. An employee works the following hours in a particular week:
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hours spent on task | 6 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 81/2 | 6 | 0 |
| Day's pay under contract | $40 | $40 | $40 | $40 | $40 | $60 | 0 |
| Additional hours | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1/2 | 0 | 0 |
| Additional pay under contract | $15 | 0 | $15 | $7.50 | $7.50 | 0 | 0 |
(b)
In the example in paragraph (a) of this section the employee has actually worked a total of 48 hours and is owed under the contract a total of $305 for the week. The only sums which can be excluded as overtime premiums from this total before the regular rate is determined are the extra $2.50 payments for the extra hour on Thursday and Friday made because of work actually in excess of 8 hours. The payment of the other premium rates under the contract is either without regard to whether or not the hours they compensated were in excess of a bona fide daily or weekly standard or without regard to the number of overtime hours worked. Thus only the sum of $5 is excluded from the total. The remaining $300 is divided by 48 hours to determine the regular rate—$6.25 per hour. One-half this rate is due under the Act as extra compensation for each of the 8 overtime hours—$25. The $5 payment under the contract for actual excess hours may be credited and the balance—$20—is owed in addition to the $305 due under the contract.