Help - Two Classifications - OT or Straight

franfields · May 2003

If we have an exempt employee work a full week and then volunteer to do a non-exempt job on a weekend, how do we pay them? If we pay them OT for the weekend we jeapordize their exempt status. Can we pay them their salary and straight time for the weekend job at a given rate that would be appropriate for the weekend job, considering it is a different classification?

This is an event coordinator volunteering to man (person) a ticket booth at an event.

Theresa Gegen TX · May 2003

Having an exempt employee do non-exempt work can destroy that employee's exemption.

The law looks at it this way:

One employee (Regardless of how many different jobs) -- One Employer

NOT

One job -- one employer

So if the non-exempt work takes the employee over the percentage of non-exempt work for that week, the exemption will be destroyed.

If this is a one time thing, (and the risk of any issue is low) then you might consider just agreeing on an extra flat payment for the extra work. If this is a recurring thing, don't do it. It can destroy the exemption.

Good Luck!

Nat · May 2003

As you know, being exempt means that we are paid to do a job and not for the number of hours we work. If this is a one time deal, I would say this would fall under part of the job, maybe "other duties as necessary" on the job description, even though they volunteered. At a former employer, at the advise of our attorney, we paid individuals a flat dollar amount in addition to their exempt wages for doing extra work. It had to be an ambiguous dollar amount and not tied to any hourly rate that might be calculated from their rate of pay. Clear as mud? Although you don't want to discourage someone from wanting to go above and beyond at work, I wouldn't encourage this situation either.

LeeR · May 2003

My understanding of this is: If a salaried exempt employee is paid for any work on an hourly basis then all work done is considered on the hourly basis.

franfields · May 2003

Thanks one and all. I advised the client, "Don't do it!"

Hatchetman · May 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-28-03 AT 09:09PM (CST)[/font][p]The issue isn't the payment mechanism for the extra work. The issue is the percentage of the total time the employee work for the employer doing exempt duties and doing non-exempt duties. A maximum 20% of the time may be spent by the exempt empoyee doing non-exempt duties without jeopardizing the exempt status.

US DOL intrepretation of 29CFR541.118(b) does permit the employer to pay the exempt employee an hourly rate for the extra time beyond what the salary is intended to cover without loss of the exempt status.

Help - Two Classifications - OT or Straight

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