The executive exemption to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is both broader and narrower than you might expect.

This exemption is broader in the sense that it can apply to supervisors, managers and others that you would not normally identify as executives. In turn, it is narrower in that too much time spent on nonmanagerial duties can result in a loss of the exemption.

For starters, the executive exemption is similar to others in that you must pay the person at least $455 per week on a salary basis. The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) requires three additional elements to the job:

· The primary duty must be managing the enterprise, department or subdivision

· You must customarily and regularly direct the work of at least two other full-time employees or their equivalent

· You must have authority to hire or fire or have some influence over hiring, firing, promotions and other changes in status of other employees

What constitutes a primary duty? One court said it meant supervising 80 or more hours of subordinates’ time at least 80 percent of the time. That’s not a universal rule. The two employee rule does mean at least 80 hours. Therefore, you could satisfy it by supervising one full-time and two employees who work 20 hours per week. In other cases, the facts have shown that police lieutenants and captains, store managers and nurse supervisors were exempt as executives.

Read the full article in the Infinisource Newsroom.