The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that sets minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and youth employment rules for most private and public sector jobs. (29 U.S.C. §§ 201 and following (2025).)
Under the FLSA, federal, state, and local government employees receive many—but not all—of the protections private sector employees get. For example, different overtime pay rules apply to public employees.
The FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime pay requirements don’t apply to certain “exempt” employees, whether in the public or private sector. Exempt employees include those working in many executive, administrative, professional, and outside sales positions. (See White Collar Exemptions Under the FLSA.) In addition, in states and cities with their own minimum wage and overtime laws, the rules that are most favorable to the employee apply.
The FLSA for State and Local Government Employees
The FLSA has many rules that apply only to state and local government employers and their workers. (See below for protections that apply only to federal workers.) Arguably the most significant rule has to do with “compensatory time,” or “comp time.” The FLSA allows state and local government employers to give their employees comp time instead of overtime pay, at a rate of one-and-a-half hours for each hour of overtime. Comp time is calculated on a 40-hour-a-week basis.
Example. A nursing assistant at a state psychiatric hospital earns $16 an hour, and last week she worked a total of 52 hours. Because she exceeded the 40-hour-a-week threshold by 12 hours, she received 18 hours of comp time (12 hours times 1.5) instead of overtime pay. When she eventually takes her comp time, those hours will be paid at her usual rate of $16 an hour, for a total value of $288 (18 hours times $16 an hour).
In the above example, if the nursing assistant had been working at a private company, she probably would have had $288 ($16 times the overtime rate of 1.5 times 12 hours) added to her next paycheck rather than receiving any paid time off. The real benefit of comp time to public employers is that it smooths out their payroll costs over time, helping them avoid spikes in any pay period due to employee overtime.
Under the FLSA, state and local employees can accrue up to 240 hours of comp time, although police and fire protection personnel are allowed more (see below). When an employee asks to use comp time, the employer must approve the request unless doing so would significantly disrupt the employer’s activities.
Government Exempt Employees
The FLSA exempts some state and local government employees—those who aren’t subject to civil service laws—from the FLSA. In other words, these workers don’t get the FSLA’s protections. These employees include elected officials, their policy advisers, and members of their personal staff, and legislative branch employees. (29 U.S.C. § 203(e)(2)(C) (2025).) But state or local law might have protections for these kinds of personnel.
Special Rules for Police Officers, Firefighters, and Others
Special overtime rules exist for law enforcement and fire protection personnel. For purposes of the FLSA, law enforcement personnel are employees who have completed law enforcement training and are legally authorized to:
- enforce state or local laws
- protect life and property
- prevent and detect crimes, and
- make arrests.
Fire protection personnel include firefighters, ambulance and rescue workers, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and hazardous materials workers, who are:
- trained in fire suppression
- responsible for fighting fires
- employed by a fire department of a municipality, county, fire district, or state, and
- engaged in the prevention, control, and fighting of fires or responding to emergency situations where life, property, or the environment is at risk.
Overtime Policy For Government Employees
Government employers usually have to calculate overtime hours for their employees on a 40-hour-a-week basis. But for law enforcement and fire protection personnel, they may instead calculate overtime hours according to “work periods,” which can last anywhere from seven to 28 days. A U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) formula determines the number of hours that trigger overtime for each work period.
For instance, DOL rules state that a fire department using a 14-day work period must pay overtime or give comp time to its employees after they’ve worked 106 hours over those 14 days. Police and fire personnel can accrue up to 480 hours of comp time.
The FLSA for Federal Government Employees
Federal employees who are nonexempt (that is, covered by the FLSA) are entitled to the same FLSA protections as private employees, including the federal minimum wage. Nonexempt federal workers, like employees at the state or local level, are also entitled to overtime pay or comp time for any hours worked over 40 per week.
FSLA Exempt Federal Employees
A federal agency can exempt an employee from the FLSA if the employee's work meets certain tests set out in the federal regulations. However, the rules state that federal employees are presumed to be nonexempt and that the burden is on the federal agency to clearly show that an exemption applies. An exempt employee would not be entitled to overtime pay or comp time even if the employee had worked over 40 hours in a week.
Example. As a manager at the U.S. Department of Energy, Jane is responsible for supervising a staff of 15 employees, and she has also hiring and firing authority. When Jane is not in the office, her deputy Mark assumes her responsibilities. Jane would be exempt from the FLSA because she meets the “executive exemption” under the federal regulations. Mark likely wouldn’t be exempt because he supervises employees only when Jane is away. The federal rules say that an individual who manages only in another’s absence doesn’t satisfy the executive exemption criteria.
For further details on FLSA exemptions for federal employees, visit the site for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
Contact a Lawyer for Legal Issues Related to the FLSA
If you’re an employee covered by the FLSA—or you think you’ve been misclassified as exempt—and you haven’t received the minimum wage, overtime pay, or comp time to which you’re entitled, you should contact an employment lawyer to discuss your legal options.
Your lawyer will explain the various laws that apply to your situation and how you should proceed. Note that many states and cities have their own employment laws that provide greater protection than federal law.
An experienced attorney can communicate with your employer on your behalf and, if needed, file a lawsuit in court.