Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), employees must be paid a minimum hourly wage and an overtime premium of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of forty per week. This is the one of a continuing series that discusses FLSA exemptions. The administrative exemption allows employees who qualify as “administrative employees” to be exempted from both minimum wage and overtime requirements. Earlier posts discussed the definition of an administrative employee. The following are examples of specific jobs that generally either qualify or don’t qualify the employee under the administrative exemption:

• Insurance claims adjusters qualify whether they work for an insurance or other type company.
• Financial services employees who analyze information, advise customers, market, service or promote the products qualify, but not those whose primary duty is selling.
• Employees who lead a team of employees “assigned to complete major projects for the employer”, even those without direct supervisory authority should qualify.
• Executive assistant or administrative assistant to a business owner or senior executive will qualify if the assistant has been delegated authority over significant matters.
• Human resources mangers who “formulate, interpret or implement employment policies” do qualify. Personnel clerks who screen applicants for minimum acceptable standards as set by others generally do not qualify.
• Management consultants who propose changes in a business’s operation qualify.
• Purchasing agents with authority to make significant purchases qualify even if the agents need consultation for unusually large commitments.
• Inspectors “along standardized lines involving well-established techniques and procedures” and those doing other ordinary inspection work do not qualify.
• Examiners or graders do not qualify, even if the employee has progressed to a point that reference to written standards is unnecessary because of acquired knowledge.
• Comparison shoppers who report prices to a retail stores buyer do not qualify, but the buyer who evaluates the information to set the prices does qualify.
• Inspectors and investigators in the public sector, including those involved in “fire prevention or safety, building or construction, health or sanitation, environmental or soils specialists” among others do not qualify.

Note that merely giving someone a title does not qualify the employee as exempt unless the duties and responsibilities that the job encumbers are also designated. State laws may provide rules that are more beneficial to the employee and must be followed. Contact Vision Payroll if you have questions about the administrative exemption.