Classifying an employee as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) allows an employer to have the employee work more than 40 hours in a workweek without paying overtime.
However, an employer that misclassifies an employee as exempt leaves itself vulnerable to lawsuits and US Department of Labor (DOL) investigations.
The single most important rule to remember when classifying an employee is that it is an employee's job duties, not job title, that matter.
The most commonly applied exemptions are for executives, administrators, professionals, computer employees and outside salespersons. There are several other more narrow exemptions.