Part-Time Accountant paid by the hour

Andrea

We have an open position for an Accountant. It used to be a full-time, exempt position. Now that we are recruting for this position, it has been decided that we really only need a part-time Accountant, 25-30 hours/week, with the possiblity of up to 40 hours during busy times of the year. The position is exempt but the Accounting department would like to pay this person by the hour.

I know that once you begin tracking hours for an exempt position, you virtually are treating that employee as a non-exempt employee.

My question is, if we do that, consider them non-exempt, track their hours and pay them by the hour, etc., would it be in our best interests to officially change the job classification to non-exempt (on the position description, etc.) so as not to get into trouble with misclassifying. The person would be getting paid overtime if they work over 40 hours.

I'm concerned about classifying this position correctly for many reasons but one thought I had is what if in the future we end up hiring a full-time Accountant in addition to the part-time Accountant. The full-time Accountant should be exempt but then you have the p/t one getting paid by the hour plus possible overtime.

Any thoughts?

Shadowfax

Many accountants don't meet the exempt requirements. The exemption is basedon duties, exercize of discretion, etc rather than title. However, if it really is a part time position, there is no harm in making it non exmpt and paying hourly.