Jeopardizing Exempt Status

Learn how to handle complex issues and avoid costly mistakes.

Once exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act, employees do not necessarily remain exempt for the duration of their employment. Actions taken, or not taken, by employers can and do jeopardize the exemptions claimed, leading unknowing employers down the path to claims of misclassification and potentially ruinous liability for unpaid minimum wages and overtime. This topic is designed to help you identify issues that jeopardize exempt status and correct them; and to address certain myths regarding what you can and cannot do. Topics to be covered will include payment on a salary basis, permissible and impermissible deductions from salary, supplementing salary with additional payments, reducing salaries or hours, required use of paid time off, performing nonexempt work and more. Identify and resolve thorny problems that jeopardize exempt status.

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to discuss minimum wage and overtime obligations.
• You will be able to identify mistakes employers make that jeopardize exempt status.
• You will be able to explain deduction procedures.
• You will be able to review safe harbor provisions.