Employers Making FLSA Administrative Exemption Classification Determinations Should Make Note Of A New First Circuit Case

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently clarified the test to evaluate the application of an often-utilized administrative exemption from the FLSA's overtime requirements.

Specifically, in Walsh v. Unitil Service Corp. the court held that the analysis is a "relational" not a "functional" one and that the touchstone of the inquiry should focus on the interplay between the business purpose of the employer or its customers and the employee's primary duty. Further, the court highlighted that employers, to ensure proper classifications, should confirm that an administrative exempt employee's job duties are not merely day-to-day routine operational work, but rather focus on "general," i.e., higher level or major, aspects of the business. The court expressly stated that "[j]ust because an employee is on the operational side of the business [that] does not mean that his job duties fall on the administrative side of the line."