Exempt employees are excluded from the FLSA’s rights and regulations, including minimum wage and overtime. In addition, an exempt status only applies to employees working for an employer, and qualifications depend on how individuals are paid, how much they are paid, and what kind of work they perform.
Who Qualifies as Exempt?
Employees who are not paid a salary and do not perform the duties of an exempt employee do not qualify as exempt. On January 1, 2020, a new rule was implemented to raise the salary level threshold for white-collar exemptions from $455 a week to $684 a week.
What are the categories of exempt workers?
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) recognizes three main categories of exempt workers: executive, administrative, and professional. The common factor in all of these categories is that a worker performs relatively high-level work involving significant use of judgment and discretion. In general, the tasks performed on the job, not the job title, determine the exempt status of a position. While exempt employees do not receive overtime pay, there are several reasons why an employee would want to be exempt.
