FLSA Overtime Calculator Advisor
Special Circ*mstances
Employees of Hospitals and Residential Care Establishments
Hospitals and other institutionsprimarily engaged in the care of the sick, the aged, or the mentally ill arecovered employers under the FLSA. Special rules (8 and 80 Overtime System) applyto the payment of overtime to employees of hospitals and residential careestablishments, such as nursing facilities, skilled nursing facilities,assisted living facilities, residential care facilities, and intermediate carefacilities for individuals with disabilities.
The Eight and Eighty (8 and 80) Overtime System
Under Section 7(j) of the FLSA,hospitals and residential care establishments may use a fixed work periodof fourteen consecutive days, instead of the 40 hour workweek, for purposes ofcomputing overtime. To use this exception, the employer must have a prioragreement or understanding with the affected employees before the work isperformed. The 8 and 80 exception allows employers to pay one and one-halftimes the employees regular rate for all hours worked in excess of 8 in a workdayand 80 in a fourteen-day period. An employer can use the standard system ofovertime for hours over 40 in a workweek for some employees and the 8 and 80exception for others at the same workplace, but cannot use both systems for asingle individual employee.
This Advisor does not calculateovertime due for hours worked under the "8 and 80" overtime system. To learn more about the "8and 80" overtime system, including examples of how to compute overtime usingthis exception, see the Fact Sheet #54: The Health Care Industry and Calculating Overtime Pay.
Additional compliance assistance resources are available on the application of the FLSA to the health care industry: