Classify an Employee Under the FLSA
Key Points
- 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.