For non-exempt public employees, the FLSA requires that all covered non-exempt employees receive at least the applicable Federal minimum wage for all hours worked. In a week in which employees work overtime, they must receive their regular rate of pay and overtime pay at a rate not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for all overtime hours. The Act does not preclude an employer from lowering an employee’s hourly rate, provided the rate paid is at least the minimum wage, or from reducing the number of hours the employee is scheduled to work.
For salaried exempt employees, in the case of public sector employees, a specific rule applies to furloughs as described in the following regulatory text, 29 C.F.R. 541.710 :
Deductions from the pay of an employee of a public agency for absences due to a budget-required furlough shall not disqualify the employee from being paid on a salary basis except in the workweek in which the furlough occurs and for which the employee’s pay is accordingly reduced.
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