In Pickens v. Hamilton-Ryker IT Solutions, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit determined that paying a guaranteed weekly amount is not enough to make an employee “salaried” and exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime requirements. The case involved an employee who was paid a guaranteed $800 per week for any week in which he worked and $100 per hour for all hours worked over eight in any workweek. The employee averaged 52 hours a week, or $270,400 annually, and the employer classified him as a salaried exempt employee.

The employee filed suit for FLSA violations, arguing that he essentially was an hourly worker entitled to overtime pay. The Sixth Circuit relied on the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Helix Energy Solutions Group v. Hewitt to determine that the employee was paid on an hourly basis. According to the court, being paid on a salary basis under the FLSA means receiving a fixed, predetermined amount each pay period regardless of the quantity of work performed. The court noted that because the employee’s total weekly pay varied depending on his hours worked in excess of the initial eight hours, it did not function as a true salary. The ruling emphasizes that high compensation does not guarantee exemption from the FLSA’s overtime requirements.