Tuesday, January 5, 2016

What is an exempt employee and why you should understand what it means

I do not claim to be a legal expert, but I have and do supervise people and have had to learn what this means over the years.

A conversation that comes up in the university setting time and again is that of the “exempt” employee and what it means.

“In California, wages, meal periods, and overtime pay are determined by both state and federal law. Employers are generally required to follow certain rules in how they treat and compensate their employees. These rules, however, do not apply to several important groups of people—called “exempt” employees”.

“Exempt employees are generally paid a salary intended to compensate fully for all hours worked each week, are not compensated based on the number of hours worked, and do not receive overtime pay”.

“Non-exempt employees are typically paid by the hour for each hour they work in a pay period and receive overtime pay in accordance with applicable overtime rules”.

So and exempt employee is essentially paid to do a job, they often work more than 40 hours per week and it might not be traditional hours (including from home).

Employers need to be careful when attempting to  micro-manage an exempt employee’s hours, especially when it is well known they work more than 40 hours per week, you could be setting yourself up for an expensive legal mistake. If they are doing the job, and doing the job well, make sure there is no personal vendetta involved when auditing their hours.

Just some advice from experience

Dr Flavius A B Akerele III
The ETeam

Some quick and easy references:

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