Exempt or not

lakeway1

I have a degreed government municipal forester. Her dept supervisor has told her that she can change her back to non-exempt so that the forester can receive overtime pay. Can a person be non-exempt just because they want to make the change? It is very clear that she is an exempt employee, but can I tell her she MUST remain an exempt employee? Thanks.

Shadowfax

Just because the duties are exempt, the employer is not bound to treat as exempt. The FLSA preferred status is non exempt, so you make her non if you prefer. It's the reverse you cannot do - just treat as exempt someone who's duties are non exemlpt.

LarryC

I agree with Shadowfax. I've always used the nonexempt status as my default designation, unless I'm designating sales reps. They are always exempt. Lawyers are too, I guess, but thank goodness I don't have any of those hanging around talking their strange little language.

NaeNae55

Though you can do it legally, I wouldn't. What will happen when other employees in the same position find out that she gets overtime? (quite likely) What if the DOL comes in and says you are treating this job like a non-exempt so it is non-exempt? (probably wont' happen)

I wouldn't do it.

Good luck!

Nae

HRCalico

Everyone else has given you good advice. I have frequently told my boss that it doesn't matter what he wants, the duties decide whether a job is exempt or not. And it is correct that you can treat an exempt position as non-exempt but not the other way around. Nae said this without saying it in so many words - do you have others in the same position? If so, you should be classifying them all the same. If you only have the one, then it's a little more OK, but you will likely have people in other positions asking to go to non-exempt as well. Has the impact on the budget been calculated? A degreed government municipal forester sounds like they have the potential to pull down big bucks per hour, and 1.5 times could get really expensive.