Overtime pay is appropriate if, and only if; a student employee works over 40 hours/week. As stated by the FLSA:

An employer who requires or permits an employee to work overtime is generally required to pay the employee premium pay for such overtime work. Unless specifically exempted, employees covered by the Act must receive overtime pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek at a rate not less than time and one-half their regular rate of pay. The Act does not require overtime pay for work on Saturdays, Sundays, holidays or regular days of rest.

During the academic year, students are not encouraged to work more than 20 hours per week because of their class schedules. Overtime is not applicable to students working under FWS.

The Act also states that employers are required to pay the same wages to those students with similar skills, training, etc.

With the institution of this ruling, those affected non-work study students will no longer be paid through the above means in order to insure that they are 1. being paid above minimum wage and 2. are receiving payment for the actual number of hours worked during a given time period. The FLSA was updated for the protection of employees.

Students not affected by this update are those that are receiving monetary compensation through a scholarship or award for services rendered in a non-employer/employee relationship. Examples of this are Cougar Productions, Student Government Association elected officers and directors of the College of Charleston Honor Board. .

The bylaws of potential organizations must be thoroughly reviewed to determine what type of relationship exists between the student and the College of Charleston before payment methods can be determined.

The Fair Pay Rule and Graduate, Research and Teaching Assistants
Graduate Assistants – Graduate students employed under this classification are not effected by the Fair Pay ruling and may continue to receive a stipend payment for their scheduled work hours that must total 240-340/semester. Once a student reaches the maximum allowable hours, their employment will be terminated for that semester. The DOL does require that all Graduate Assistants must complete a weekly in-house timesheet subject to internal and external audit.

Research Assistants – Graduate students employed under this classification will not be effected by the Fair Pay ruling and may continue to receive a stipend payment for their scheduled work hours. These students are exempt as their primary responsibility is to conduct scholarly research during a given academic period.

Teaching Assistants – Graduate students employed under this classification are also not affected by the Fair Pay ruling and may continue to receive a stipend payment for their scheduled work hours. These students are exempt as their primary responsibility is imparting knowledge to a targeted group (i.e. undergraduate students) during a given academic period.