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Exempt employee

SystemSystem 5,885 Posts
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Our company has several exempt employees who are salaried. These employees are to be at work during the hours of 8:30 to 5:30 with an hour for lunch and are required to clock in and out. If the company requires you to be there during these hours and keeps track of hours worked can you really be a salaried exempt employee? There is no leave when your work is complete or stay late when you have things to do. Any thoughts?
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  • 7 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Down_the_MiddleDown_the_Middle 771 Posts
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    Some time ago, a colleague of mine chose to treat exempt staff in the same way and 1 day the DOL knocked on his door. At the conclusion of their investigation (which was prompted by an ee complaint), the org was found in violation of FLSA and ordered to pay 18 months back pay, including overtime for all those "alleged exempt staff". Now....your situation and industry might be different, but the risk still remains. It's hard to respond about why you track hours for an exempt employee, unless they might not really be exempt!!!
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  • RockieRockie 2,136 Posts
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    I can guarantee you that anytime the DOL comes knocking on your door, you will not get by unscathed! They will keep digging until the find something which will translate into dollars owed by the employer!

    But...sometimes employers have to learn lessons the hard way if they choose to ignore the rules and regulations.
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  • PorkPork 1,271 Posts
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    Chances are your company should look at your classifications of these salaried employees! Are they truly 80 % thinking and decision making or 80% physical labor and 20% thinking and decision making. Our company does task "certain managers" to clock in and out, our reasoning is based on a need to have proof of the manager's presence during any critical time of the working day. When we need proof of a particular or specific time to defend our manager's actions we have the proof in the time card process. If we did not need to understand whether a manager was on-board or not we would not task them to clock in and out. I am one who does not have to clock in or out, I work on my own schedule which is coordinated with my boss the General Manager. Seldom is it necessary for anyone to prove I was here or away from my work site, but then you see, I do not manage the work force. Our maintenance manager does not have to clock in or out because his time is recorded on the Job Orders and we know how to charge out his time for costing purposes. We can also use his documentation as proof of his movements on or off site, therefore, he does not clock in or out.
    Hope this helps. Pork
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  • jamesrayjamesray 3 Posts
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    If these employees meet the definition of exempt employees then they would get paid a set amount each pay period regardless of how many hours it took to complete their work. What happens if an employee finishes their work and leaves early? Are they still paid the same rate, or are they docked the hours they missed? I believe you can track hours worked for other reasons, like accruing benefits, but not for paying wages.
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  • SystemSystem 5,885 Posts
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    Exempt employees are not allowed to leave early if their work is complete. They must be at the office from 8:30-5:30 with an hour lunch break.
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  • jamesrayjamesray 3 Posts
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    These employees don't sound like exempt employees. Therefore, they are entitled to overtime pay for any hours worked over 40 in the workweek (and all other FLSA laws for non-exempt employees apply). If any of these employees have been denied overtime pay for overtime hours or their pay has been reduced for hours missed during the day, they can call the Wage and Hour to file a complaint.

    An exempt employee must be paid their full salary in any workweek in which they do any work without regard to the quality or quantity of work performed or the number of days or hours worked.
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  • PorkPork 1,271 Posts
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    Rae, unless your company has a very good reason to have all exempt employees clocking in then your company may be limiting the value of an exempt category. We have unit managers clock in and out for the purpose of legal documentation which verifys the presence of the manager during any need time for legal purposes. No other manager is required to clock in, come early, or stay late unless there is a legitmate business purpose. When one stays late the General Manager wants that person to make up for his personal time lost by going home early or taking another day off. It is a verbal compensatory time off program. Nothing is documented, it is a matter of special trust and confidence in those of us who manage the company. I plan my schedule and execute it, accordingly. I do not have to back up to the payline to get my pay. I am in charge of the HR issues for the company 24/7; if it requires me to work late I do, If I get it all done and I want to leave at noon on Friday, I tell the GM and I leave, he usually says have a nice week-end and I'm right behind you. My assistant is not-exempt and she has been trained to carry on without me. She can always reach me by phone or radio except when I'm in my "deer Stand". For the next 3 months that is exactly where I will be by 3:00PM weekly. My fingers have communicated to much on this subject. Pork
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