Staff Exemption Status

Overview

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a Federal Labor Law that establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, equal pay, record keeping, and child labor standards for employees.  The law establishes the requirements for determining the exemption status of a position and provides an exemption from both minimum wage and overtime pay for employees classified as "exempt".

The exemption status of a University staff position is determined by the University’s Compensation Department within the Office of Human Resources and is done so in accordance with criteria established by the Fair Labor Standards Act.  Staff employees’ exemption statuses are listed in the official hire letter from the Office of Human Resources and can be found on the individual’s Employee Record.

Exempt Status

On August 23, 2004, the Department of Labor updated the current Fair Labor Standard Act to modernize the requirements for determining employee exemption status. Those employees that qualify to the white collar exemption are considered by Federal law and the University as exempt.

Exempt employees are not eligible for compensatory time or overtime, but their salaries are:

• Compensated on a salary basis
• Not subject to the minimum wage and overtime provisions established by the Fair Labor Standards Act
• Not eligible for compensatory time (time off)
• Not eligible for overtime pay for work performed in excess of 40 hours per week.
• Not subject to reduction of pay based on the quality or quantity of work.
• Overall, pay is not based on the amount of time spent at work, but rather for "getting the job done." (This means an exempt employee may be required to work more than regularly scheduled hours in a given workweek).

Non-Exempt Status

The FLSA provides Non-Exempt employees:

• A mandated minimum wage
• Overtime pay at a rate of not less than one-and-one-half times their regular hourly rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of 40 in their standard workweek

The University maintains compliance with the FLSA by:

• Requiring non-exempt staff to account for all time worked as well as the use of sick, vacation, and other leave time on an hourly basis
• Granting non-exempt staff compensatory time (time off) if hours actually worked is beyond the 37.5 hour workweek (sick, bereavement, jury duty and approved absence not included) and less than 40 hours per week, and providing payment of compensatory time if not used as time off within the pay period it was earned or the following pay period.
• Providing non-exempt staff with overtime pay at a rate of not less than one-and-one-half times their regular hourly rate of pay if hours worked is over 40 per work week and if work was performed on a University designated Holiday.