What is overtime? The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires enterprises engaged in interstate or foreign commerce and state and local governments to pay overtime of 1¹/₂ times an employee's regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 hours in a workweek. There are several overtime pay requirements outlined by the FLSA and its regulations, such as properly calculating a workweek, when to pay overtime, what notices an employer must post in the workplace, the fact that the right to overtime protection may not be waived by an employee, and properly calculating employees' regular rates of pay. Certain executive, professional administrative, computer professional, outside sales, and highly compensated employees may be exempt from the overtime rules.