Exemption rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are
complicated and can often be frustrating for employers. Determining
which employees in a workforce may or may not be exempt from
entitlement to overtime pay requires a detailed analysis of complex
regulations. The result of an employer's analysis can be very
consequential for the organization. If an employee, or worse,
a group of employees, are improperly classified as exempt the
result can be liability for years of unpaid overtime. Investing
time now in an analysis of your employees' exemption statuses
can save time and money down the road through the avoidance of the
cost of unchecked improper classification.
A recent case in the U. S. Court
of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (covering Kentucky, Michigan,
Ohio, and Tennessee) shows that even when an employee appears to
meet the standard for exemption, a close reading of the rules is
necessary. In the case, two welding inspectors sued their employer
on
