The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) was America's first major worker protection law, and it remains one of the most important safeguards for employees to this day. Since 1938, the FLSA has required employers to pay employees at least the federal minimum wage and to pay a premium rate of one-and-one-half times an employee's regular rate of pay for every hour over forty hours worked by the employee in a seven-day workweek.

Paying employees correctly is necessary both because it helps employers attract and keep good employees and because mistakes may cause an employer to face hefty fines and penalties, including up to two years of back overtime for each employee who has not been paid correctly.

This book lays out the rules governing FLSA-exempt status, the kinds of activities for which employees must be paid (compensable time), and overtime, with special attention paid to the issues and problems with which North Carolina public employers routinely grapple.