Page:Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt.pdf/25

Rh

, dissenting.

The Court granted certiorari to answer this question: “Whether a supervisor making over $200,000 each year is entitled to overtime pay because the standalone regulatory exemption set forth in 29 C.F.R. §541.601 remains subject to the detailed requirements of 29 C.F.R. §541.604 when determining whether highly compensated supervisors are exempt from the [Fair Labor Standards Act]’s overtime-pay requirements.” Pet. for Cert. i–ii. In other words, we agreed to decide which regulations certain well-paid employees must satisfy to fit within the overtime-pay exemption. Must they satisfy only §541.601? Or must they satisfy §541.601 and §541.604?

Unfortunately, this case does not tee up that issue in the way we hoped. With the benefit of briefing and argument, it has become clear that the “critical question here” is not how §541.601 and §541.604 interact. Instead, the critical question is an antecedent one—whether Helix Energy paid Michael Hewitt, the supervisor at issue in this case, “on a salary basis” under §541.602. As the Court explains, the proper interaction between §541.601 and §541.604 matters only if Helix Energy paid Mr. Hewitt on a salary basis consistent with the terms of §541.602. Ante, at 7. Faced with this development, the Court chooses to