Wages and Overtime: Determining Who is Exempt

How does an employer determine if an employee is exempt under the FLSA and Wisconsin law?

Determining if an employee is exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (“DWD”) regulations is a multi-step process.  Additionally, an employee may be exempt under the FLSA as to overtime, but may not be exempt as to overtime under Wisconsin law.  Therefore, a multi-prong analysis is required to ensure that an employer is complying with both federal and Wisconsin law.

Step 1: Does the employee make at least $455.00\week on a salary basis (or $27.63\hr for Computer Employees)?  If the employee makes less than $455.00\week, they are not exempt from the FLSA, and the analysis stops there.

Step 2: Can the employee, via their actual job functionsbe defined as occupying an “exempt role”?  Note, that job description alone won’t meet the requirements – the actual day-to-day job functions must be inline with the exempt categories.  (i.e. if a company hires an employee for an “exempt” role, but their actual job functions are different, the employee may not qualify as “exempt” any longer).

In two weeks, we will discuss a few different exempt roles, most specifically – the Executive and Administrative Employee!