hourly vs. exempt employee

[disneychrista]

Has there been a change in your job duties that would qualify you to be an exempt employee or do you meet the qualifications already?

They can't "make" you expempt, you either are or are not. What is your job? What do you do?

if I become an employee, they want to make me "salaried" which means I would be paid a salary and I assume, be eligible to work extra hours without additional pay.

Salaried is mearly a type of payment. If you are not exempt then your employer would still have to pay you overtime if you work overtime.

 

[hugabearjo]

Thanks guys, I am a psych nurse that is more management then anything. I do very little patient care mostly medication management and oversee those who are passing the meds. My company has been great for flex time etc. She was just wondering what I thought as all the other nurses in the company are exempt. Three weeks out of the month I could get my job done in much less then 40 hours but the week meds come in I would work 40 but right now I do it in fourty because I am not allowed to get overtime.

I am due for review and raise anyway so I will evaluate it then if it comes up. I know the policy is if you are there for 4 hours and have an appointment you don't have to use personal time as long as you get your work done

 

[Sagginit]

i just went from exempt to non-exempt. no one explained the legal reasons, they made it seem like it was just because they thought it would be better for us. its so silly they dont just come clean and tell us that because they re-structured the dept. our job titles changed and thus our pay rate.

i am happy though b/c now i do qualify for overtime which i was working late a lot anyways. this week already i got 1.5 hours of overtime due to someone calling out. i had left a non-exempt position and it as nice not to have all my hours logged, but now that i am crazy busy im glad i get overtime again.

 

[marlynnp]

Well.. I don't know..very small businesses are often exempt from alot of these rules.., and churches do have have all kinds of different rules as well...as I look over my job description, I see that I am 'non-exempt"...and the no unemployment thing is legit since a former employee tried to collect and it didn't happen.
I guess people could push for things at DH job..but really, they all do the best they can with a job that has medical emergencies, overbooking, longer appointments than scheduled, etc.

Just because one employee was not able to collect does not mean that there are no unemployment benefits. There is much more to it than that. Did the person quit or were they terminated. If they were terminated was it due to lack of work or was it for cause? Those are the things that affect eligibility.

 

[nunzia]

Just because one employee was not able to collect does not mean that there are no unemployment benefits. There is much more to it than that. Did the person quit or were they terminated. If they were terminated was it due to lack of work or was it for cause? Those are the things that affect eligibility.

No..it is a rule that has to do with how church employees are seen legally..we do not get unemployment no matter what..that is my understanding.
The following is an answer posted on a board about this very issue of churches and unemployment:

<<most employees of churches and other religious organizations are not eligible to collect unemployment benefits because their employers generally do not contribute to unemployment benefit programs for them. However, some do, as explained below. (In reading my note, below, by “church” I mean any religious organization.)

a. Because our U.S. Constitution prohibits federal government intrusion into religion, our federal government does not tax churches or other religious organizations. For this reason, by federal law, “service performed in the employ of a church . . . or an organization which is operated primarily for religious purposes” is exempt from federal unemployment taxes.

b. Though, by law, our State governments are permitted to require churches to pay unemployment taxes, few do so. In this area, states are permitted to impose this tax on churches, and provide this benefit to church employees. Few do.

c. Even still, churches can voluntarily contribute but, again, very few do so. A church is free to adopt its own policy of being included in unemployment insurance coverage. Few do so. Unless a church voluntarily establishes its own policy to pay unemployment taxes, its former employees cannot receive unemployment benefits.>>

 

[ccgirl]

Didn't read all the threads...just wanted to give my two cents. OT is usually banned for hourly workers at a lot of places. However, salary employees are the ones that usually put in the OT since they don't get paid extra. I have always been salary and have never put in just a 40 hour work week. Having said that, I know what I am getting paid every week. It is a very steady and dependable pay check. Make sure the salary is actually a raise because you will probably be working more hours. Good luck.

 

[Arielle22]

Thanks guys, I am a psych nurse that is more management then anything. I do very little patient care mostly medication management and oversee those who are passing the meds. My company has been great for flex time etc. She was just wondering what I thought as all the other nurses in the company are exempt. Three weeks out of the month I could get my job done in much less then 40 hours but the week meds come in I would work 40 but right now I do it in fourty because I am not allowed to get overtime.

I am due for review and raise anyway so I will evaluate it then if it comes up. I know the policy is if you are there for 4 hours and have an appointment you don't have to use personal time as long as you get your work done

There is an exemption may apply to nurses under FLSA professional exemption or management would be under the executive exemption. Also the company does not need your permission to make you exempt. If you qualify then you can be classified in that manner.

This link will walk you through seeing if you qualify as under different exemptions. http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/overtime/menu.htm

 

[Arielle22]

May I piggy-back on your post and ask a question? I currently work as an administrative asst. for a company through a temp agency. I am paid hourly and was told by my company to only work 40 hours as they don't want to pay overtime. However, if I become an employee, they want to make me "salaried" which means I would be paid a salary and I assume, be eligible to work extra hours without additional pay.

I currently work 8.5 hours a day (and take a 30 minute lunch) so the company is truly getting a solid 8 hours of work from me. If I become an employee, I don't mind working overtime as long as I'm paid for it, but as a salaried employee, I think they would want me to long the long hours that they do (let me just say their salary is alot more than mine!). I'm the only admin. in this office.

You can be salaried and non-exempt. That would mean that you get a salary but if you work over 40 hours you get the overtime that the law requires.

There is an Administrative exemption that you may qualify under. Follow this link for details. http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/overtime/a1.htm

 

[swilshire]

Classifying employees as either exempt or non-exempt is neither exact nor easy. The decision cannot be made arbitrarily, nor should it be made based solely on the job title or the way the employee is paid (i.e., hourly or salaried). Instead, the determination must be made based on the job duties associated with the position.

There was a big crack down on this a few years ago. A lot of people were changed from exempt, particularly in colleges.

I worked in the same job for 16 years. Started as non-exempt, went to exempt for years, then back to non-exempt.

Sheila