Administrative Exemption
A person employed in an administrative capacity means
any employee:
- Whose duties and responsibilities involve
either:
The performance of office or non-manual work directly related to
management policies or general business operations of his or her employer or
his or her employer's customers, or
The performance of functions in the
administration of a school system, or educational establishment or institution,
or of a department or subdivision thereof, in work directly related to the
academic instruction or training carried on therein; and
- Who customarily and regularly exercised discretion
and independent judgment; and
- Who regularly and directly assists a proprietor, or
an employee employed in a bona fide executive or administrative capacity,
or
- Who performs, under only general supervision, work
along specialized or technical lines requiring special training, experience, or
knowledge, or
- Who executes, under only general supervision,
special assignments and tasks, and
- Who is primarily engaged in duties which meet the
test for the exemption.
- An administrative employee must also earn a monthly
salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for
full-time employment. Full-time employment means 40 hours per week as defined
in Labor Code Section 515(c).
Following are examples of employees who might qualify
for the exemption if, and only if, they meet the criteria set forth above:
- Employees who regularly and directly assist a
proprietor or exempt executive or administrator. Included in this category are
those executive assistants and administrative assistants to whom executives or
high-level administrators have delegated part of their discretionary powers.
Generally, such assistants are found in large establishments where the official
assisted has duties of such scope and which require so much attention that the
work of personal scrutiny, correspondence and interviews must be
delegated.
- Employees who perform, only under general
supervision, work along specialized or technical lines requiring special
training, experience or knowledge. Such employees are often described as "staff
employees," or functional, rather than department heads. They include employees
who act as advisory specialists to management, or to the employer's customers.
Typical examples are tax experts, insurance experts, sales research experts,
wage rate analysts, foreign exchange consultants, and statisticians. Such
experts may or may not be exempt, depending on the extent to which they
exercise discretionary powers. Also included in this category would be persons
in charge of a functional department, which may even be a one-person
department, such as credit managers, purchasing agents, buyers, personnel
directors, safety directors, and labor relations directors.
- Employees who perform special assignments under
only general supervision. Often, such employees perform their work away from
the employer's place of business. Typical titles of such persons are buyers,
field representatives, and location managers for motion picture companies. This
category also includes employees whose special assignments are performed
entirely or mostly on the employer's premises, such as customers' brokers in
stock exchange firms and so-called "account executives" in advertising
firms.
Regarding the requirement for the exemption to apply
that the employee "customarily and regularly exercises discretion and
independent judgment," this phrase means the comparison and evaluation of
possible courses of conduct and acting or making a decision after the various
possibilities have been considered. The employee must have the authority or
power to make an independent choice, free from immediate direction or
supervision and with respect to matters of significance. With respect to the
administrative exemption, this phrase has been most frequently misunderstood
and misapplied by employers and employees alike in cases involving the
following:
- Confusion between the exercise of discretion and
independent judgment, and the use of skill in applying techniques, procedures,
or specific standards.
- Misapplication of the phrase to employees making
decisions relating to matters of little consequence.
- Perhaps the most common misapplication is the
application of the exemption to employees engaged in production aspects of the
employer's business as opposed to administrative functions.
Caveat. As with any of the exemptions, job titles
reflecting administrative classifications alone may not reflect actual job
duties and therefore, are of no assistance in determining exempt or nonexempt
status. The fact that an employee may have one of the job titles listed above
is, in and of itself, of no consequence. The actual determination of exempt or
nonexempt status must be based on the nature of the actual work performed by
the individual employee.
For a free consultation with an experienced employee
rights attorney, contact David Spivak:
- Email David@SpivakLaw.com
- Call toll free (877) 277-2950
- Visit The Spivak Law Firm, 16530 Ventura Boulevard Suite 312 Encino, CA 91436
- Fax (310) 499-4739
For further information on your rights in the work
place, please visit our other websites:
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