Employee Identification

• Theater employees, or motion picture workers, manage the business' functions, operate projectors, sell food items, check and sell tickets, and provide customer service to those who visit the theater. Specific job titles include theater managers, projectionists, ushers, ticket takers, concession attendants and box office cashiers. Except for theater managers who generally work 40 to 60 hours a week five to six days per week, and some projectionists, most movie theater employees work part-time.
  
  

Overtime Identification

• Employees not excluded from FLSA overtime pay provisions must receive overtime pay at 1 1/2 times their regular pay rate for work hours that exceed 40 for the week; these employees are called "non-exempt." Though hourly employees are usually non-exempt and qualify for overtime, this is not always the case.
  
  

Determination

• The FLSA exempts movie theater workers from its overtime pay provisions, which means an employer does not have to pay them overtime. Most theater workers receive hourly wages and are not exempt from the FLSA minimum wage requirements. At the time of publication, an employer must pay them at least the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, as of the time of publication. Salaried employees who perform managerial duties are usually exempt from overtime. However, the FLSA requires employers to pay salaried-exempt movie theater managers no less than $455 per week, at the time of publication.
  
  

Considerations

• Employers of theater workers should consult their state labor department for state overtime laws and exemptions. Similar to federal law, many states exempt movie theater workers from overtime. Further, an employer should pay hourly movie theater workers no less than the state minimum wage, and salaried-exempt employees at the state minimum salary level, if the state rate is higher than the federal rate. An employer can consult his local wage and hour division for assistance with federal overtime law application.