What is an exempt vs. non-exempt employee?

Exempt positions are excluded from minimum wage, overtime regulations, and other rights and protections afforded nonexempt workers. Employers must pay a salary rather than an hourly wage for a position for it to be exempt. All positions at your company should have a job description and an FLSA audit should be regularly done to ensure that employees are classified correctly. To qualify as exempt, as an employee must be paid a set salary of at least $455/week, be performing executive, professional, or administrative duties, or be designated as computer professionals or outside sales associates, and not be performing non-exempt duties for more than half their working hours. Failure to comply with classify exempt employees correctly can result in employers being forced to provide up to 3 years of back-pay for employees seeking recovered wages. Employees are typically classified as non-exempt if they are blue-collar or semi-skilled non-managers. Call us and let us help you with an FLSA audit and be sure you are classifying your employees correctly!