We all know that Section 7 of the FLSA gives workers the right to recover overtime premium pay equaling 150% of their regular rate of pay. A more complex issue, however, is whether that section also enables workers to recover their “straight time” pay for non-overtime hours even if the straight time rate exceeds the minimum wage rate. Defendants, of course, assert that the FLSA’s protections for non-overtime hours are limited to Section 6’s minimum wage mandate. I recently read a very thorough opinion rejecting this argument and holding that Section 7 mandates “straight time” pay for non-overtime hours in weeks in which workers also work overtime. The case is entitled Barvinchak v. Indiana Regional Medical Center, and it is a must-read if you are faced with the vexing ”straight time” issue. The citation is 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72805 (W.D. Pa. Sept. 28, 2007), and the pertinent discussion appears on pages *9-21.