United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

FILED September 9, 2021 No. 19-20023 Lyle W. Cayce Clerk Michael J. Hewitt,

Plaintiff—Appellant,

versus

Helix Energy Solutions Group, Incorporated; Helix Well Ops, Incorporated,

Defendants—Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas USDC No. 4:17-CV-2545

Before Owen, Chief Judge, and Jones, Smith, Wiener, Stewart, Dennis, Elrod, Southwick, Haynes, Graves, Higginson, Costa, Willett, Ho, Duncan, Engelhardt, Oldham, and Wilson, Circuit Judges. James C. Ho, Circuit Judge, joined by Smith, Stewart, Haynes, Graves, Higginson, Costa, Willett, Duncan, Engelhardt, Oldham, and Wilson, Circuit Judges: The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes a standard 40-hour workweek by requiring employers to pay “time and a half” for any additional time worked. See 29 U.S.C. § 207(a). Case: 19-20023 Document: 00516008345 Page: 2 Date Filed: 09/09/2021

No. 19-20023

Congress has repeatedly rejected efforts to categorically exempt all highly paid employees from overtime requirements. See, e.g., 84 Cong. Rec. 5458–59 (1939) (bill to exempt “employees employed at a guaranteed monthly salary of $200 a month or more”); H.R. 8624, 76th Cong. (1940) (bill to exempt all employees receiving a guaranteed monthly salary of $150 or more); 143 Cong. Rec. E317-04, E318, 1997 WL 79643, at *2 (Feb. 26, 1997) (proposing a bill to “create an income threshold that automatically exempts from FLSA scrutiny the highest paid strata of the workforce”). Accordingly, both the Secretary of Labor and the Supreme Court—as well as our court—have observed that “employees are not to be deprived of the benefits of the [FLSA] simply because they are well paid.” Jewell Ridge Coal Corp. v. Local No. 6167, 325 U.S. 161, 167 (1945). See also Parrish v. Premier Directional Drilling, 917 F.3d 369, 388 (5th Cir. 2019) (same); 69 Fed. Reg. 22,122-01 (2004) (same). Instead, Congress has authorized the Secretary to promulgate regulations exempting “bona fide executive, administrative, [and] professional” employees from overtime. 29 U.S.C. § 213(a)(1). Under that authority, the Secretary has exempted “highly compensated” (29 C.F.R. § 541.601) as well as more modestly paid “executive,” “administrative,” and “professional” employees (id. §§ 541.100, 541.200, 541.300). To fall within any of these exemptions, however, three conditions must be met: First, the employee must meet certain criteria concerning the performance of executive, administrative, and professional duties. Second, the employee must meet certain minimum income thresholds. Finally, the employee must be paid on a “salary basis.” And although the duties criteria and income thresholds vary from exemption to exemption, the regulations apply the same salary-basis requirement to all four exemptions. See id. § 541.100(a)(1) (applying the salary-basis test to executive employees); id. §

2 Case: 19-20023 Document: 00516008345