Exempt Employees And The Shortened Workweek

On August 19, 2009 the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement ("DLSE") issued an Opinion Letter stating that an employer having significant economic difficulties will not violate the "salary basis" of its exempt employees by temporarily reducing the work schedules of those exempt employees from five days to four days per week, with a corresponding reduction of 20 percent to their weekly salary. This is a significant departure from the contrary view expressed in a DLSE Opinion letter issued in 2002.

To qualify for an executive, administrative or professional exemption under California law, an employee must satisfy both the "salary" prong and the "duties" prong of the test for the exemption. In most cases where the exemption is in question, the focus relates to the "duties" prong of the exemption. Nevertheless, in this downturned economy, where employers have tried to avoid layoffs by other costcutting measures, the focus at times has shifted to the