exempt & wants hourly

njjel

Can an employee be classified as hourly if they would otherwise qualify as exempt? An ee we have wants to work hourly as her husband is ill and she doesn't know how much she will be off. She doesn't qualify yet for FMLA and has used up all her accrued time.

ray a

A couple months ago, we were considering options to laying off and I called the local DOL to ask about reduced hours. One option they gave me was to temporarily reclassify our exempt ee's as non-exempt and reduce their hours. Additionally, I have had part timers working in what are normally exempt positions and were paid hourly even though all their peers were exempt. I would think you could do as this ee requests as a temporary solution to her problem.

NaeNae55

Exempt just means exempt from overtime. You can decide not to make them exempt if you choose to. (You can always do more than the legal minimums, you just can't do less.) You must remember though, that if you do she will now qualify for overtime.

Also, don't forget to document everything clearly so you can change her back to exempt later (or make the position exempt again if someone replaces her).

Good luck!

Nae