Paying an exempt employee for a different position (CA employer)

felicia_matthews

We have situations where a nurse supervisor (exempt) will be asked to work a nursing shift because staff have called in ill, etc. These employees are not performing any of their regular supervisory functions at the time. They have assumed the duties and responsibilities of a line employee. What has the case law been on paying an exempt person extra in such cases? Of course, our fear is that this extra payment compromises the integrity of their exempt status because it could be argued that we are paying them for OT. And if we did pay them, could we just pay them at their equivalent hourly rate or would we have to pay them at an OT rate?

Thanks.

Down_the_Middle

I face the same situation frequently in my metro, teaching hospital. We offer this exempt person a "2nd job" which permits him/her to be classified as a staff RN, non-exempt for those shifts worked. Rate of pay is different and they function in a staff capacity. Doing this does not violate his/her previous exempt status and enables us to use these exempt folks for fill-in as needed.

felicia_matthews

Thank you very much for your response. This common-sense approach should work well for us.

Mutagawa

Our nursing supervisors (county hospital) are classified as non-exempt because they frequently have to take on a staff nurse role and be compensated for overtime.

Hatchetman

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 02-21-02 AT 03:34PM (CST)[/font][p]Under California regulation, Labor Code 515(f), registered nurses who practice nursing are not eligible for the professional exemption provided for by FLSA. In California, for a registered nurse to be exempted, the nurse must either meet the "administrative" or "executive" exemption test. Otherwise, the registered nurse is who practices nursing is to be "non-exempt."

If you are classifiying the supervising nurse as "exempt" based upon the "executive" test, the nurse only needs to be "primarily" engaged in the duties of the supervisor. That means at least 50% of the time. That includes work which has a direct and close relationship to the exempt supervising nurse position or work that carries out the responsibility of the exempt supervising nurse position. Thus, not all of the time does sthe supervising nurse who is exempted under the "executive test" need to perform the exempt duties of the job aws ong as the major part of the duties are exempt in nature under the "exeuctive" criteria. I assume the supervising nurse is not exempted as "administrative."

Your problem here may be how long this "temporary" arrangement will occur. I don't believe that when there are short term emergency needs that require an exempt "executive" employee, if that's what your supervising nurses are at this point, the employee can't fill in. At this point, I would just pay them their salaries that would include the duties they are doing for the extra shift. You may want to give them a bonus for that additional responsibility but don't tie it to hours worked -- just the assignment.