Wyoming Overtime Laws: What Every Employer Needs to Know

Wyoming has no state overtime law and no meaningful state minimum wage above the federal floor. Overtime in Wyoming is governed entirely by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, enforced by the federal Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division and through private lawsuits. Wyoming's state minimum wage of $5.15 per hour is superseded by the federal $7.25 rate for all employees covered by the FLSA, which covers virtually every Wyoming employer of any size engaged in interstate commerce. Wyoming's economy is dominated by oil and gas extraction in the Powder River Basin and Green River Basin, coal mining, trona mining, agriculture, and the tourism and hospitality industry centered on Yellowstone and Jackson Hole. Each of those industries carries overtime compliance challenges that go well beyond the basic 40-hour threshold rule -- particularly the hitch schedule workweek calculation issues that pervade Wyoming's energy sector.

This guide covers Wyoming's overtime framework, who is exempt, the industries with the highest violation rates, and the specific mistakes Wyoming employers make most frequently.

Wyoming Overtime Law: The Framework

• Overtime threshold: 40 hours per workweek
• Overtime rate: 1.5 times the regular rate
• No daily overtime requirement
• State minimum wage: $5.15/hour (federal $7.25 supersedes for FLSA-covered employers)
• Minimum overtime rate: $10.88 per hour (at federal minimum)
• Tipped employee minimum: $2.13 per hour cash wage plus tips to $7.25
• State overtime enforcement: None -- federal DOL only
• Federal enforcement: U.S. DOL Wage and Hour Division
• State wage payment: Wyoming Wage Payment Act (W.S. 27-4-104)

Wyoming Minimum Wage and Overtime Rate

Who Is Exempt from Wyoming Overtime

Federal FLSA Exemptions (Apply in Wyoming)

Salary test: At least $684 per week on a salary basis (verify current threshold).

• Executive: Primary duty is managing the enterprise or a recognized department, regularly directing two or more employees, with authority to hire, fire, or make recommendations given particular weight
• Administrative: Primary duty is office or non-manual work related to management or business operations, exercising discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance
• Professional: Primary duty requires advanced knowledge in a specialized field through prolonged intellectual instruction, or predominantly creative and intellectual work
• Computer professional: At $684/week salary or $27.63/hour rate
• Outside sales: Primary duty is making sales away from the employer's place of business
• Highly compensated: Verify current HCE threshold; must perform at least one exempt duty -- particularly relevant in Wyoming's high-wage energy sector

Wyoming-Specific Exemption Nuances

Overtime Calculation in Wyoming

Example: A Gillette coal mine worker earns $27 per hour and works 56 hours in a week.

• Regular pay: 40 hours x $27 = $1,080
• Overtime rate: $27 x 1.5 = $40.50
• Overtime pay: 16 hours x $40.50 = $648
• Total gross pay: $1,728

Regular Rate Inclusions

Wyoming employers in energy, mining, and construction frequently undercount the regular rate by excluding:

• Per diem payments that exceed IRS rates or are not tied to actual documented expense reimbursement
• Hazard pay and dangerous location differentials
• Non-discretionary production bonuses and safety incentives
• Shift differentials for night and weekend rotations
• On-call pay that is guaranteed regardless of whether calls occur

Wyoming Industries with High Overtime Violation Rates

Oil and Gas -- Powder River Basin and Green River Basin

Wyoming's oil and gas industry is concentrated in two major producing basins. The Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming -- centered on Campbell, Converse, and Natrona counties -- is one of the most productive coalbed methane and oil regions in the United States. The Green River Basin in southwestern Wyoming, anchored by the Greater Green River Anticline, supports major natural gas and oil production. The overtime compliance environment in Wyoming oil and gas is essentially identical to that of North Dakota's Bakken and Louisiana's offshore sector:

• Hitch schedule workweek calculation: Wyoming oilfield workers on 14-and-14 or similar hitch schedules working 12-hour days accumulate 84 hours in each on-rotation week. Every hour over 40 in each workweek triggers overtime independently. Wyoming energy employers who calculate overtime across the full hitch period rather than workweek by workweek are systematically underpaying on every rotation.
• Per diem wage suppression: Wyoming oilfield employers who pay large flat per diem amounts to keep base hourly wages artificially low are generating regular rate exposure if those payments function as wages rather than genuine documented expense reimbursements at or below IRS rates.
• Independent contractor misclassification: Wyoming oilfield service companies that classify field workers -- pump operators, roustabouts, production technicians -- as independent contractors without conducting a genuine economic reality analysis are generating FLSA overtime exposure. Workers who operate on employer-set schedules, use company-provided equipment, and are economically dependent on a single operator are employees for wage-and-hour purposes regardless of the contract label.
• HCE exemption without a duties analysis: Certain well-compensated Wyoming oilfield workers may be classified as highly compensated exempt employees based solely on their compensation level without confirming that they customarily and regularly perform at least one qualifying exempt duty. The HCE exemption is a salary-plus-duties test, not a salary-only test.

Coal and Trona Mining -- Campbell and Sweetwater Counties

Wyoming is the largest coal-producing state in the United States, with the massive surface mines of Campbell County -- including Peabody's North Antelope Rochelle mine, the largest coal mine in the world by volume -- employing thousands of workers. Sweetwater County in southwestern Wyoming is the global center of trona mining, producing the majority of the world's natural soda ash. Mining overtime compliance issues in Wyoming include:

• Surface mining shift differentials and the regular rate: Surface coal and trona mine workers operate on rotating shift schedules with night and weekend differentials. Those differential payments must be included in the regular rate before overtime is calculated. Mines that pay overtime on the base hourly rate while excluding shift differential components are systematically underpaying.
• Underground mining portal-to-portal analysis: While Wyoming's surface mining operations do not involve underground portal-to-portal issues, trona underground mining operations in Sweetwater County may require analysis of whether pre-shift and post-shift activities are compensable under the Portal-to-Portal Act.
• Production bonuses: Non-discretionary production bonuses and safety incentive payments paid to mine workers must be included in the regular rate for overtime calculation purposes.

Tourism and Hospitality -- Yellowstone and Jackson Hole

Wyoming's tourism economy is among the most geographically concentrated in the United States. Yellowstone National Park draws over four million visitors annually, and Jackson Hole supports one of the most expensive and labor-intensive resort economies in the country. Tourism overtime issues in Wyoming include:

• Seasonal amusement and recreational establishment exemption: Certain Wyoming tourism and recreational operations may qualify for the FLSA seasonal amusement or recreational establishment exemption if they do not operate for more than seven months in any calendar year or meet the revenue distribution test. The exemption must be analyzed for each specific operation -- not assumed based on the seasonal character of Wyoming tourism generally.
• Tipped employee overtime on the full minimum wage: Overtime for tipped employees must be calculated at 1.5 times the full federal minimum wage of $7.25, not 1.5 times the $2.13 tipped cash wage. Jackson Hole hospitality employers who calculate tipped employee overtime at 1.5 times the cash wage are underpaying on every tipped employee who works more than 40 hours during peak season.
• Peak season extended hours: Summer and winter peak seasons in Wyoming's resort and gateway communities frequently push hospitality workers well above 40 hours per week. Accurate per-workweek tracking and correct overtime calculation are required during every high-volume period regardless of how the seasonal schedule is structured.

Healthcare -- Wyoming Medical Center, Cheyenne Regional, Banner Health

Wyoming's healthcare sector serves a geographically dispersed rural population through a network anchored by Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, and Banner Health's Wyoming operations. Healthcare overtime issues in Wyoming include:

• 8-and-80 rule without written agreements: Wyoming hospitals and residential care facilities that run 12-hour shifts may use the FLSA Section 7(j) 8-and-80 alternative overtime method, but only with a prior written agreement established with employees before the relevant work period begins. Wyoming healthcare employers who apply the 8-and-80 calculation based on shift structure without the written election are calculating overtime incorrectly.
• Rural and critical access hospital on-call: Wyoming's rural and critical access hospitals serving communities across the state's vast geography frequently rely on on-call arrangements to maintain coverage with limited staff. Guaranteed on-call stipends must be included in the regular rate for any week where the employee also works overtime hours.
• LPNs, CNAs, and medical assistants are non-exempt in virtually every scenario

Construction

Wyoming's construction sector -- including energy infrastructure construction, commercial development in Cheyenne and Casper, and highway projects across the state -- employs large hourly workforces. Davis-Bacon Act prevailing wage requirements apply on federal construction projects and interact with overtime regular rate calculations. Cash fringe benefit payments must be included in the regular rate unless paid into a bona fide benefit plan. Working foremen who spend the majority of their time performing physical construction tasks alongside hourly crew members are non-exempt regardless of supervisory title.

Common Wyoming Overtime Mistakes

Calculating Hitch Schedule Overtime by Period Rather Than by Workweek

Wyoming oil and gas employers who average hours across the hitch period and pay no overtime because the hitch "averages out" are violating the FLSA on every on-rotation workweek. Each workweek stands alone. A Wyoming oilfield worker who works 84 hours in week one of a 14-and-14 hitch is owed 44 hours of overtime for that week regardless of the off-rotation period that follows.

Per Diem Used to Suppress the Regular Rate

Wyoming energy employers who pay large flat per diem amounts while keeping base hourly wages artificially low are generating regular rate exposure if those per diem payments are not tied to genuine documented business expenses at or below IRS rates. A flat daily payment that functions as additional compensation regardless of actual expenses incurred must be analyzed as potential regular rate income.

Independent Contractor Misclassification in Energy

Wyoming oilfield and mining employers who classify workers as independent contractors without conducting a genuine economic reality analysis are carrying unquantified FLSA overtime exposure. The economic reality test focuses on the true economic relationship -- not the label used in a contract.

Excluding Mine Shift Differentials and Bonuses from the Regular Rate

Wyoming coal and trona mine employers who pay shift differentials and non-discretionary production or safety bonuses must include those amounts in the regular rate before calculating overtime. Paying overtime on base hourly rate alone while excluding those components is a systematic underpayment across all affected overtime weeks.

Healthcare Employers Using 8-and-80 Without Written Agreements

Wyoming hospital and long-term care facility employers who apply the 8-and-80 overtime calculation without a prior written election with employees are calculating overtime incorrectly. The written agreement must predate the relevant work period.

Tipped Employee Overtime on the Cash Wage

Wyoming hospitality employers who calculate overtime for tipped employees at 1.5 times $2.13 instead of 1.5 times $7.25 are systematically underpaying tipped employee overtime. During peak Yellowstone and Jackson Hole seasons when extended hours are common, this error produces substantial wage liability across seasonal hospitality workforces.

Biweekly Averaging

Wyoming employers on biweekly pay cycles who offset a high-hour week against a low-hour week and pay no overtime are violating the FLSA. Each workweek stands alone. A Wyoming employee who works 52 hours in week one and 28 hours in week two is owed 12 hours of overtime for week one regardless of the 80-hour biweekly total.

How Updoot Helps Wyoming Employers Stay Compliant

Updoot handles the time tracking requirements that matter most for Wyoming's energy, mining, tourism, healthcare, and construction employers.