Hourly Exempts - what the heck is this?
pmaher
22 Posts
When can we classify employees as hourly exempt? What does it mean? Where can I get more information? I never heard of this before but it has been suggested for a problem we are trying to fix.
Some of our exempt ees do billable work. They are now paid straight overtime for hours in excess of hours in that month. In an attempt to not charge to overhead, someone suggested we make these employees hourly exempt. This seems to be an oxymoron.
Anything & everything will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Some of our exempt ees do billable work. They are now paid straight overtime for hours in excess of hours in that month. In an attempt to not charge to overhead, someone suggested we make these employees hourly exempt. This seems to be an oxymoron.
Anything & everything will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Comments
The most common are lawyer, doctor and school teacher. These types may be paid on an hourly but not be required to be paid minimum wage and overtime at time and a half. They are exempt by their specified status under the law; the law clearly provides that these position need not pass a salary test in order to be exempt as long as the duties involve actually do what lawyers, doctors and school teachers do.
In essence they get the worst of both worlds. They may have partial days' absences docked from their compensation and if they work more than 40 hours in a week, they don't have to be paid time and a half overtime (they would just get straight rate time). There are a couple of other positions that the law may establish as exempt without the position haing to me the salary test.
What positions are you involved with?
If billing is a part of the job, then you may have the slaaired, exempt emplyee record billable hours for that purpose without jeopardizing the exempt status. Just make sure that you don't base the employee's salary on the hours billed.
In accordance with my copy of Defining the Terms-Executive, Administrative, Professional, and Outside Sales, I findSection 541.314 covers the Physicians, Lawyers, and Teachers. This section helps one to first identify that the position in which you have someone working for "billable hours" in order to calculate their compensation as truly authorized to be considered as "EXEMPT FROM THE FLSA".
Been there and done that: once had a designer division of professional artist who used computer software to design patterns to fit the customers needs. Over time the division had reached a saturation point for new and creative design yet the division was producing a lot of time on the computer filling customer's needs with a battery of cretive arts who were no longer authorized nor required to creat new designs. The division head and two design supervisors were the only remaining professional artist. The bank of specialist were considered by the company to be professional artist and paid a salary but required all to remain at work daily until the orders were filled. HR fielded the complaints of the computer operators and realized we were in violation of the FLSA. As the HR I took their concerns to the owners, who's brother was the Division Head. Two months later I was gone with a RIFed action. They decided they no longer needed an HR that was going to upset the applecart. Upon departure, I advised the "Artist computer operators" to take their concerns to the Wage and Hour FEDS. They did and the problem was resolved and it cost the company a ton of money; bottom line, walk softly on these grounds you might upset the applecart. Pork