Page:Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt.pdf/3

Rh the regulation says, is paid on a salary basis only if he “receive[s] the full salary for any week in which [he] performs any work without regard to the number of days or hours worked.” Whenever an employee works at all in a week, he must get his “full salary for [that] week”—what §602(a)’s prior sentence calls the “predetermined amount.” That amount must be “without regard to the number of days or hours worked”—or as the prior sentence says, it is “not subject to reduction because” the employee worked less than the full week. Giving language its ordinary meaning, nothing in that description fits a daily-rate worker, who by definition is paid for each day he works and no others. Further, §602(a)’s demand that an employee receive a predetermined amount irrespective of days worked embodies the standard meaning of the word “salary.” The “concept of ‘salary’ ” is linked, “[a]s a matter of common parlance,” to “the stability and security of a regular weekly, monthly, or annual pay structure.” 15 F. 4th 289, 291. Helix responds by focusing on §602(a)’s use of the word “received,” contending that because Hewitt got his paycheck every two weeks, and that check contained pay exceeding $455 (the salary level) for any week in which he had worked, Hewitt was paid on a salary basis. But Helix offers no reason for hinging satisfaction of the salary-basis test on how often paychecks are distributed. And Helix’s interpretation of the “weekly basis” phrase is not the most natural one. A “basis” of payment typically refers to the unit or method for calculating pay, not the frequency of its distribution. And that is how neighboring regulations use the term. The “weekly basis” phrase thus works hand in hand with the rest of §602(a) to reflect the standard meaning of a “salary,” which connotes a steady and predictable stream of pay. Pp. 8–12.

Helix’s argument to the contrary relies on the premise that the HCE rule operates independently of §604(b). Even if so, a daily-rate worker