West Virginia’s maximum hours and overtime rules work on a simple split: there is no legal ceiling on how many hours an adult can be scheduled to work in a day or a week, but every hour past 40 in a single workweek has to be paid at one and a half times the regular rate. State law tracks the federal Fair Labor Standards Act closely, with a few West Virginia-specific rules for nurses, minors, and meal breaks.
No Cap on Hours for Adult Workers
Neither West Virginia law nor the FLSA limits how many hours an adult employee can work. Your employer can schedule you for 50, 60, or more hours a week, so long as it pays proper overtime for everything past 40.1U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #23: Overtime Pay Requirements of the FLSA
The narrow exceptions involve safety-sensitive industries. Commercial truck drivers follow Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rules that cap driving at 11 hours within a 14-hour on-duty window, with at least 10 consecutive hours off before the next shift.2Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Summary of Hours of Service Regulations Commercial airline pilots face tighter limits still, with most single- or two-pilot crews restricted to eight hours of flight time in any 24-hour period and no more than 1,000 flight hours in a 12-month period.3eCFR. Title 14, Part 121, Subpart R – Flight Time Limitations: Flag Operations
When Overtime Kicks In
West Virginia’s overtime statute mirrors the federal rule. No employer may have an employee work more than 40 hours in a workweek without paying at least one and a half times the employee’s regular rate for the extra hours.4West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21-5C-3 – Maximum Hours; Overtime Compensation Where both state and federal law apply, your employer must follow whichever gives you more protection.
A workweek is a fixed, recurring period of 168 hours — seven consecutive 24-hour periods. It does not have to begin on Monday or match your pay period, but your employer cannot average hours across two or more weeks to sidestep overtime. If you work 30 hours one week and 50 the next, you are still owed 10 hours of overtime for the second week.
West Virginia’s minimum wage sits at $8.75 per hour, above the $7.25 federal rate. A minimum-wage employee is therefore owed at least $13.13 for each overtime hour.
Piece-Rate and Day-Rate Workers
If you earn a flat amount per piece or per day rather than an hourly wage, overtime still applies. Your regular hourly rate is calculated by dividing your total weekly earnings by the total hours you actually worked. You then get an extra half-time premium on top of that rate for each overtime hour, since your straight-time pay already covers the base.5eCFR. 29 CFR Part 778 – Overtime Compensation
Tipped Employees
Tipped workers get overtime based on the full minimum wage, not the lower tipped cash wage. If your employer takes a tip credit, the overtime rate is still calculated starting from the full minimum wage.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #15: Tipped Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act
What Counts as Hours Worked
Time that feels like downtime often counts toward your 40. Getting this wrong is one of the most common ways employers under-pay overtime.
Travel Time
Your normal commute from home to a fixed workplace does not count. Travel between job sites during the workday does. If you receive a one-day assignment in another city, the travel time is work time, minus what you would normally spend on your regular commute.7U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #22: Hours Worked Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Overnight travel that cuts across your normal working hours is compensable, even on days you would otherwise have off.
On-Call and Waiting Time
If you have to stay at or near your employer’s premises and cannot use the time for your own purposes, you are working. If you simply have to leave a phone number where you can be reached and are otherwise free, that on-call time generally is not compensable.8eCFR. 29 CFR Part 785 – Hours Worked The test is how restricted your freedom actually is, not what the employer calls the arrangement.
Meal Breaks
West Virginia employers must make at least 20 minutes available for a meal break during any workday of six or more hours.9West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21-3-10A – Meal Breaks The employer picks the timing. Short breaks of roughly 5 to 20 minutes are treated as paid work time under federal law and count toward overtime. A bona fide meal period of 30 minutes or more, during which you are completely relieved of duties, does not count as hours worked.10U.S. Department of Labor. Breaks and Meal Periods If you have to eat at your desk while answering phones, that is not a genuine meal break and the time is compensable.
Who Doesn’t Get Overtime
Some salaried employees are exempt. The main categories are executive, administrative, and professional employees, plus certain computer-related and outside sales roles.11U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #17A: Exemption for Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer and Outside Sales Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) To be exempt, a worker must clear both a salary test and a duties test.
The salary threshold is $684 per week, or $35,568 per year.12U.S. Department of Labor. Earnings Thresholds for the Executive, Administrative, and Professional Exemption From Minimum Wage and Overtime Protections Under the FLSA Earn less than that on a salary basis and you are almost certainly entitled to overtime regardless of your title or duties.
Meeting the salary threshold is not enough on its own. Your actual work has to match one of the duties tests:
- Executive: your primary duty is managing a department or the business, you regularly direct the work of at least two full-time employees or the equivalent, and you have meaningful authority over hiring and firing.13U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #17B: Exemption for Executive Employees Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Administrative: office or non-manual work directly related to business operations or management, with regular exercise of independent judgment on significant matters.
- Professional: work requiring advanced knowledge in a specialized field such as law, medicine, engineering, or education, typically acquired through prolonged study.
- Computer professional: systems analyst, programmer, software engineer, or similar role paid at least $684 per week on salary, or at least $27.63 per hour.
Job titles do not control the analysis. Calling someone a “manager” who spends 90% of the shift stocking shelves does not create an executive exemption.
Independent contractors fall outside the FLSA and receive no overtime protection at all. The Department of Labor uses an “economic reality” test to decide whether a worker is genuinely in business for themselves or is really an employee. The core factors are how much control the employer exercises over the work and whether the worker has a real opportunity for profit or loss based on their own initiative. The label on the contract does not decide the question.
Can Your Employer Force You to Work Overtime?
For most workers in West Virginia, yes. Nothing in state law prohibits mandatory overtime, and refusing without a protected reason can lead to discipline or termination. Union members should check their collective bargaining agreement, which may cap mandatory overtime or require a premium above time-and-a-half.
Hospital Nurses
Hospital nurses are the major exception. West Virginia’s Nurse Overtime and Patient Safety Act bars hospitals from forcing a nurse to accept an overtime assignment or retaliating against a nurse who turns down extra hours because working them could jeopardize patient or employee safety.14West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21-5F-3 – Hospital Nursing Overtime Limitations and Requirements
Limited exceptions apply. A hospital can require overtime during an unforeseen emergency that threatens patient safety, to let a nurse finish a procedure already underway, or to fulfill prescheduled on-call commitments. The statute also does not apply where a collective bargaining agreement specifically addresses overtime procedures.
Whether overtime is voluntary or mandatory, no nurse may work more than 16 hours in a 24-hour period. After 12 or more consecutive hours, the nurse must receive at least eight consecutive hours off before the next shift.14West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21-5F-3 – Hospital Nursing Overtime Limitations and Requirements
Hour Limits for Workers Under 16
While adults face no cap, West Virginia imposes strict limits on employees under 16, tracking the federal FLSA child labor provisions:
- School weeks: no more than 3 hours on a school day and 18 hours total during the week.15West Virginia Legislature. West Virginia Code 21-6-7 – Hours and Days of Labor by Minors
- Non-school weeks: no more than 8 hours per day and 40 hours during the week.
- Time of day: work only between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., with the evening cutoff extending to 9:00 p.m. from June 1 through Labor Day.
- Meal break: at least 30 minutes after five continuous hours of work.
Work cannot take place during school hours except through approved career exploration programs.
If Your Employer Shorts You on Overtime
Under the FLSA, an employer that violates the overtime or minimum wage provisions owes affected employees their full unpaid wages plus an equal amount in liquidated damages, effectively doubling the back pay. A court will reduce the liquidated damages only if the employer proves it acted in good faith and had reasonable grounds to believe it was in compliance.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 216 – Penalties
Federal civil fines for repeated or willful overtime violations can reach $2,515 per violation as of 2025, adjusted for inflation each January.17U.S. Department of Labor. Civil Money Penalty Inflation Adjustments Willful violations carry criminal exposure: an employer convicted of a willful FLSA violation faces fines up to $10,000, and a second conviction can result in up to six months in jail.16Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 216 – Penalties
Keep Your Own Records
If you suspect your hours are not being tracked properly, keep your own log. Save pay stubs, note your start and end times daily, and photograph any posted schedules. These personal records become critical evidence in a dispute.
Where to File
You have two paths, and you can pursue both. Federally, contact the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243. Complaints are confidential, and retaliation for filing is prohibited.18U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint The Wage and Hour Division can investigate and pursue back wages on your behalf without you hiring an attorney.
For a state complaint, file a Request for Assistance with the West Virginia Division of Labor’s Wage and Hour section. Contact wageandhour@wv.gov or (304) 558-7890.
Deadlines
Under federal law, you have two years from the date wages were due to file a claim, or three years for a willful violation.19Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 U.S. Code 255 – Statute of Limitations West Virginia’s state deadline is also two years. Every pay period that falls outside the limitations window is money you cannot recover, so do not wait. You also have the right to file a private lawsuit for unpaid wages, liquidated damages, and attorney’s fees.