How to best explain why a position is non-exempt

JRS

Does anyone have any advice on how to best explain to business managers (non-HR people) why a particular position should be non-exempt, without getting hung up on FLSA jargon? I'm particularly interested in the "exempt - admin" category versus "non-exempt." And what is really meant when FLSA says "general business operations?" Thanks in advance for your advice.

NaeNae55

I always zero in on the decision making aspect. I tell the manager that if the employee has to make decisions requiring good judgement which ultimately affect the organization (like might lose us a customer or get us sued) that the employee should be exempt. I also tell them if the employee merely has to follow standards set by the organization or outside sources, they should be hourly. In each situation, I bring out the job description and go down the list item by item saying what would be exempt and what would be non-exempt. (Beforehand, I let the manager know how much of the job must be exempt to qualify.) The manager can see for themselves whether the employee is exempt or not and therefore make the call for exempt or non (without feeling like HR is bossing them around.) Of course, I always leave myself an escape hatch pointing out that this is merely one aspect of the issue, but so far it has worked in every situation.

Gillian

Supervising people, or lack thereof, is also a good indication.