Most HVACR contractors know the basic rule governing overtime pay for service technicians: After working 40 hours in a week, the employee must be paid “time and a half” for the excess hours. But while this rule seems simple, the overtime regulations enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) are anything but, especially when applied to the service-oriented HVACR industry.
For example, should a service tech’s travel time from home to the first jobsite be included in the employee’s working time? And, do you have to include bonus payments in the calculation of overtime pay? These and other common questions raised by HVACR contractors fall into two major categories: