About dual pay rates
A dual pay rate is when a worker has two different rates (for example a daily pay rate and an hourly pay rate). On a film set, dual pay rates can be paid to artists who do different tasks at different rates. For instance, crew members might have a different rate for prepping a set versus shoot days.
Dual pay rate overtime requirements
In certain situations, OT must be paid with a blended rate as required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA):
When an employee works more than a certain number of hours in a single week, the FLSA requires them to be paid OT.This is true in almost every state, and kicks in after 40 hours per week. Though film unions like SAG-AFTRA and DGA, have even tighter OT restrictions.
When an employee is paid two different rates for two different jobs, the FLSA almost always requires that their OT pay be calculated from a blended pay rate
Calculating the blended overtime rate
In Wrapbook, dual pay rates for blended OT will be automatically calculated when payroll is run. To learn how, see our blog post How to Calculate Blended Overtime for Dual Pay Rates.
Using the overtime rate-in-effect instead of the blended rate
The most common misconception about dual pay rates is that as long as an employee agrees to be paid two different rates, it’s okay to calculate their OT based on the two separate rates and not pay the blended rate. This is often untrue, and in many cases, failure to pay a blended rate can leave an employer open to trouble.
To pay the OT rate-in-effect, specific conditions must be met:
The worker must sign an agreement explicitly agreeing to be paid the overtime rate-in-effect for each position. Signing up for two positions at different rates of pay alone is not enough; the employee must explicitly agree in writing to be paid overtime based on each position's base rate and not a blended rate.
The positions must be distinct enough that they are deemed separate jobs
The OT rate-in-effect paid in the end must be more beneficial to the employee (i.e. more money) than the blended rate