You might be due overtime pay, even if you're salaried

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/sfl-flzcareers1022anboct22,0,5161679,print.story

October 22, 2007

Dear Joyce: My job as an assistant manager requires an average of 50 hours a week. But, according to corporate statements, I am exempt from overtime under the executive exemption. Is this accurate?

Situations vary; you need to look closer. The burden of proof is on the employer. You may not be exempt and may be owed overtime. Here's the deal.

Revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) took effect in August 2004. Even with the revisions, the FLSA is not always clear-cut and has become a hot potato for employees and employers alike in both large and small companies. The size of salary isn't decisive, nor is job title or job description in being considered exempt from overtime. (A rose is a rose is a rose, no matter how much you pay for the bush and then call it a camellia.)

To really be exempt from overtime, you must qualify for one of the specific exemptions provided by FLSA. In addition to the executive exemption you cite, there are others. Examples: an administrative exemption, professional exemption, computer-employee exemption and outside sales exemption.

A number of well-known corporations recently have lost overtime suits. Misclassifying assistant managers is not uncommon, so you may or may not have a case. Do some preliminary free checking into your situation on these Web sites:

Department of Labor: www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-flsa.htm.

Working America's "Ask a Lawyer About Your Job:" workingamerica.org/askalawyer.