© 2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2025 ed. | 49 piece rate is bona fide; and (3) the employee receives one and one-half times this piece rate for overtime hours worked.277 Example Method 1: An employee’s straight-time workweek is 40 hours. The employee works 45 hours and receives total earnings of $900.00. The employee’s regular rate is $20.00 per hour ($900.00 ÷ 45 hours = $20.00 per hour). Thus, for the 5 overtime hours worked, the employee is entitled to an additional $50.00 dollars (.5 x $20.00 per hour x 5 hours = $50.00). The employee’s weekly wage is $950.00. Example Method 2: An employee who regularly receives $20.00 per piece of completed work would be entitled to $30.00 per piece of work finished during the overtime hours (1.5 x $20.00 per piece = $30.00 per piece). b. Day Rates and Job Rates An employer may pay an employee a flat sum for a day’s work or for performing a particular job without regard to the number of hours worked in the day or at the job. If an employer pays an employee based on a job or day rate, the employee’s regular rate is determined by adding all of the day rates or job rates paid during the workweek and dividing the sum by the total number of hours worked in that workweek.278 The employee must then be paid one-half of the regular rate for all hours worked over forty in the workweek.279 Example: An employee for a housekeeping service company is compensated based on a job rate of $100.00 for every house cleaned. In one week, the employee cleans 9 houses and spends 5 hours cleaning each house. The employee’s regular rate is calculated by dividing the total compensation received for the week, in this case, $900.00 ($100.00 per house x 9 houses = $900.00), by the total number of hours worked, in this case, 45 hours. Thus, the employee’s regular rate would be $20.00 per hour ($900.00 ÷ 45 hours = $20.00), and the employee would be entitled to an additional $50.00 of overtime pay (.5 x $20.00 x 5 hours). c. Semi-Monthly or Monthly Salary An employee’s regular rate of pay is based on pay for a workweek. Thus, regulations under the FLSA explain how to calculate the regular rate for a non-exempt employee who is paid a salary on a monthly or semi-monthly basis.280 However, the Wage Act prohibits paying non-exempt 277 29 C.F.R. § 778.418. 278 29 C.F.R. § 778.112. 279 Id. 280 29 C.F.R. § 778.113(b).
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