THE ADMINISTRATIVE EXEMPTION FOR CALIFORNIA OVERTIME

The administrative exemption is one of the more elusive exemptions under wage and hour laws for overtime as well as meal and rest breaks. The administrative exemption requires pay of twice minimum wage. Administrative work must directly relate to management policies or general business operations. This is very difficult to understand. A department head in a non-profit tasked with enforcing management policies such as the distribution of services or goods as might occur in a non-profit whose aim is to service a certain segment of the population may be considered exempt. Somebody sitting in the office of a school called an administrator is not likely to be exempt if they are tasked with writing checks, sending out blast emails.

Let an experienced wage and hour lawyer review whether you are exempt from overtime under the administrative exemption call 877-525-0700

Many of the examples set forth in DLSE law about the administrative exemption are overbroad. For example, the law claims persons are exempt if they directly assist a proprietor. A stock boy in a liquor store directly assists the proprietor be surely they are not exempt. It is best to speak to an experienced wage and hour lawyer to see a position is exempt from overtime.

ADMINISTRATIVE EXEMPTION OVERTIME LAWYER

The official administrative capacity as described by the DLSE is as follows:

An employee whose duties and responsibilities involve either:

The performance of office or non-manual work directly related to management policies or general business operations of his or her employer or his or her employer's customers, or

The performance of functions in the administration of a school system, or educational establishment or institution, or of a department or subdivision thereof, in work directly related to the academic instruction or training carried on therein; and

Who customarily and regularly exercised discretion and independent judgment; and

Who regularly and directly assists a proprietor, or an employee employed in a bona fide executive or administrative capacity, or

Who performs, under only general supervision, work along specialized or technical lines requiring special training, experience, or knowledge, or

Who executes, under only general supervision, special assignments and tasks, and

Who is primarily engaged in duties which meet the test for the exemption.

An administrative employee must also earn a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment. Full-time employment means 40 hours per week as defined in Labor Code Section 515©.

Following are examples of employees who might qualify for the exemption if, and only if, they meet the criteria set forth above:

Employees who regularly and directly assist a proprietor or exempt executive or administrator. Included in this category are those executive assistants and administrative assistants to whom executives or high-level administrators have delegated part of their discretionary powers. Generally, such assistants are found in large establishments where the official assisted has duties of such scope and which require so much attention that the work of personal scrutiny, correspondence and interviews must be delegated.

Employees who perform, only under general supervision, work along specialized or technical lines requiring special training, experience or knowledge. Such employees are often described as "staff employees," or functional, rather than department heads. They include employees who act as advisory specialists to management, or to the employer's customers. Typical examples are tax experts, insurance experts, sales research experts, wage rate analysts, foreign exchange consultants, and statisticians. Such experts may or may not be exempt, depending on the extent to which they exercise discretionary powers. Also included in this category would be persons in charge of a functional department, which may even be a one-person department, such as credit managers, purchasing agents, buyers, personnel directors, safety directors, and labor relations directors.

Employees who perform special assignments under only general supervision. Often, such employees perform their work away from the employer's place of business. Typical titles of such persons are buyers, field representatives, and location managers for motion picture companies. This category also includes employees whose special assignments are performed entirely or mostly on the employer's premises, such as customers' brokers in stock exchange firms and so-called "account executives" in advertising firms.

Regarding the requirement for the exemption to apply that the employee "customarily and regularly exercises discretion and independent judgment," this phrase means the comparison and evaluation of possible courses of conduct and acting or making a decision after the various possibilities have been considered. The employee must have the authority or power to make an independent choice, free from immediate direction or supervision and with respect to matters of significance. With respect to the administrative exemption, this phrase has been most frequently misunderstood and misapplied by employers and employees alike in cases involving the following:

Confusion between the exercise of discretion and independent judgment, and the use of skill in applying techniques, procedures, or specific standards.

Misapplication o the phrase to employees making decisions relating to matters of little consequence.

Perhaps the most common misapplication is the application of the exemption to employees engaged in production aspects of the employer's business as opposed to administrative functions. Caveat. As with any of the exemptions, job titles reflecting administrative classifications alone may not reflect actual job duties and therefore, are of no assistance in determining exempt or nonexempt status. The fact that an employee may have one of the job titles listed above is, in and of itself, of no consequence. The actual determination of exempt or nonexempt status must be based on the nature of the actual work performed by the individual employee.

Every employee is involved in the general business operations of a company so merely doing the work the organization is supposed to do does not make an employee an administrator under the exemption. Administrators establish the general business practices of an organization while having a meaningful budget to do so. Exempt work must be more than half the job.

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