The EmployStats consulting team, lead by Matt Rigling, MA, recently worked on a case involving employee misclassification.  EmployStats assisted attorneys by calculating potential damages for employees who were classified as exempt but potentially should have been classified as non-exempt and therefore owed FLSA overtime wages for hours worked over 40 in a workweek.

 

Matt Rigling and the EmployStats team also worked to use the case data and information provided to confirm whether the employees in question passed both the salary and duties tests for exemption purposes. According to the FLSA, an employee can be classified as exempt under the Administrative, Executive, or Professional exemption if they meet all of the requirements for salary and job duties.  

 

In this case, EmployStats compared the employee information to the salary and job duty requirements of the Administrative and Executive exemptions.  Under both exemptions, the employee must be paid a salary of at least $455, as well as meet the job duties specific to an Administrative or Executive employee.  According to U.S. Department of Labor, Administrative employee’s primary job duty must be office work that is “directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or employer’s customers” and must include “the exercise of discretion and independent judgement” for matters of importance.  Similarly, Executive employee’s primary job duty has to be managing the company, or a department of the company. Additionally, they must also regularly direct at least two other full-time employees and have the authority to at least recommend the company fire, hire, or promote other employees.

To see how EmployStats can assist you with an employee misclassification case or another labor and employment matter, please visit www.EmployStats.com or give us a call at 512-476-3711.  Also make sure to follow our blog and find us on social media! @employstatsnews

In late 2016, the US Department of Labor announced a final ruling on overtime, which may go into effect later this year and increase the number of workers eligible for overtime payment.  Here at EmployStats, our specialized team of Research Associates and Economists is fully capable and ready to handle all your wage & hour needs.

At EmployStats, we analyze FLSA and wage & hour violation claims, including time clock rounding, misclassification, off-the-clock work, and missed meal periods.  Our analyses of wage & hour violations typically involve the statistical review of information such as employee time punch records, payroll data, and employee time diary information.  Our goal at EmployStats is to communicate effectively with our clients and fully invest in the project at hand, in order to achieve the best outcomes and form long-lasting professional relationships.  

Our wage & hour clients include plaintiff and defense attorneys, as well as individual employers across the country.  Our wage & hour projects include expert witness trial testimony, expert reports, consultation, and compliance self-audits.  Statistical sampling is used to investigate wage & hour violations in some cases as well.

For more information on how EmployStats can help you with your wage & hour needs, please visit our website at www.employstats.com/wage-and-hour.

Ok, so you have a group of exempt employees that receive a set salary amount and additional compensation each week.  How do you analyze this type of OT exemption?

29 C.F.R §541.604 provides some guidance on the issues.  For instance, 29 C.F.R §541.604 provides a number of examples where employees receiving this type of salary compensation would still be correctly classified as exempt workers.  For instance in 29 C.F.R §541.604(a), an exempt employee guaranteed at least $455 each week would still be correctly classified if they received additional compensation of 1% sales commission or profits.  The employees, according to 29 C.F.R §541.604 the employees could also receive additional compensation  based on the hours worked above a normal week and remain correctly classified.