Manager earning $600K loses overtime pay over employer knowledge requirement

Again, the court disagreed. The burden falls on the employee to show the employer knew about overtime, not on the employer to prove it did not. Not having a timekeeping system does not automatically trigger overtime liability, especially when workers operate independently in different locations without daily supervision and get paid based on performance rather than hours. 

The court noted that Texas Farm Bureau had no reason to think about whether Merritt was working regular hours versus overtime since his compensation had nothing to do with time spent working. 

Finally, Merritt challenged the jury instructions, claiming the instruction was misleading to jurors by telling them employees have a duty to notify employers when working extra hours. The appeals court found no problem with the instruction, which came straight from standard Fifth Circuit guidelines. 

What does this mean for HR? Several things. First, worker classification still matters enormously. Texas Farm Bureau lost the classification fight, which is why the case went to trial in the first place. Getting that wrong can expose companies to significant liability. 

Second, the ruling offers some protection for companies employing autonomous workers, particularly those paid on commission or other non-hourly arrangements. If workers control their own schedules and do not report their hours, employers cannot be held liable for overtime they genuinely did not know about.