Abstract

This study primarily focuses on clarifying the legal dimensions of minimum wages and overtime premium as statutory safeguards designed to promote fairness in labor relations between employers and employees. Legislators have established minimum wage standards to protect workers from exploitation and to ensure a decent standard of living that satisfies their basic needs. Likewise, labor legislation has introduced regulatory frameworks governing overtime compensation to achieve balance in the work environment and to protect workers' rights from exploitation resulting from excessive working hours without fair compensation. To address the research problem and its subsidiary questions, the researcher has adopted an analytical-comparative methodology in examining the wage and overtime premium provisions. The research concludes that the FLSA establishes a federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour, which serves, as a floor not a ceiling. Accordingly, no state may set a wage below this threshold, though states retain the authority to establish higher rates. In contrast, Saudi Arabia has not enacted a statutory minimum wage. Instead, it has implemented a national program known as Nitaqat, which mandates specific Saudization percentages for employers. However, the obligation to pay the minimum wage applies only to a portion of Saudi workers—those counted toward the mandatory Saudization percentage—and does not extend to all Saudi employees within an establishment. Finally, this research shows that both prescribe the same overtime premium rate, specifically time-and-a-half for each additional hour worked. However, there is a difference between the two laws, as under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), all covered employees are entitled to this premium once their weekly overtime hours exceed 40, whereas the Saudi Labor Law grants the same entitlement only when weekly overtime surpasses 48 hours.

Keywords

Minimum wage; Overtime; Labor Law; FLSA; Wage; Hour.