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View Full Version : Abuse of Exempt (Salary) status


ccross60
Mar 16, 2003, 09:03 AM
My husband works for a company that pays him salary. He is a general manager with this company. He is working anywhere from 60 to 70 hours a week. I had read somewhere that if a person is salary that they must work at least 50% of their time doing manager work.

He is doing at least 70% of his time doing jobs that an hourly person would do. His company requires they hire part-time personnel and only work them 20 hours a week. Needless to say he can not keep personnel. Is there anything he can do that he could collect overtime while being salary?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

CliffARobinson
Mar 10, 2012, 01:00 PM
You are correct that in order to be considered an Exempt Manager, they should spend more than 50% of their time performing Managerial work [1 (http://www.las-elc.org/factsheets/exemptions.html)]

This is a common complaint of Exempt Managers, and companies have lost a lot in Labor Lawsuits over this issue. The problem you will find is in correcting the issue in your husband's favor.

He can go to senior management and point this issue out, asking for either a change in their policies which promote high turnover to reduce the 70% to 50%, or he can ask to be considered Non-Exempt.

I think you can predict the possible response.

The other option is the legal approach. Typically, an employer can be liable for up to three years back OT pay if it is found they incorrectly classified an employee as 'Exempt' from the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Seek out a Labor Attorney for consultation.