Job titles do not determine exempt status. Salary level and actual job duties do. Eight questions check whether a role's exemption would hold up under a Department of Labor review.
This tool provides general classification-awareness guidance based on the federal duties test and is not legal advice. Exemption thresholds change; verify the current federal salary threshold and consult qualified counsel for a formal classification opinion.
Most white-collar overtime exemptions require both a salary basis and level test (paid a fixed salary at or above the current federal threshold) and a duties test (the employee's actual primary duty matches an exemption category: executive, administrative, professional, computer, or outside sales). Both parts must be satisfied; a high salary alone does not create an exemption.
The Department of Labor and courts look at what the employee actually does day to day, not the title on the org chart. A "Manager" who does not supervise two or more full-time employees and lacks real input into personnel decisions likely does not qualify for the executive exemption regardless of the title.
A role correctly classified as exempt at hire can drift out of exemption as duties change, as the role gets restructured, or as the federal salary threshold is updated. Reclassifying proactively is far cheaper than a Department of Labor audit finding years of unpaid overtime.
No. Salary basis is only one part of the test. The employee's actual job duties must also independently satisfy one of the recognized exemption categories.
The employer may owe back overtime pay, potentially going back two or three years depending on whether the violation is found to be willful, plus possible liquidated damages and penalties.
At least annually, and whenever a role's duties, reporting structure, or pay changes significantly. Many misclassifications happen gradually as a role's actual work shifts away from its original job description.
No. This tool addresses employee overtime exemption. Worker classification (employee versus independent contractor) is a separate legal analysis with its own test.
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