Overtime Pay Part 2: Revenge of the Administrative Assistants

October 18th, 2009. By Kristine B

Okay, so it may sound like a really bad, B movie. But the truth of the matter is that a lot of people are not getting their overtime pay because they have the words “managerial,” “administrative,” or “executive” in their job title. But those titles alone don’t make a person exempt from overtime. So for Pleading Ignorance this week, we’re looking at the ins and outs of exemption from overtime pay. 

To refresh your memory, last week we looked at the three questions that you must answer “Yes” to in order to be considered exempt from overtime pay—meaning if you answer ALL 3 questions with a “yes”, you are not entitled to overtime pay.

The first question is pretty straightforward… 

1. Do you make at least $23,600 per year (or $455 per week)? 

If “No,” then you are eligible for overtime pay and you needn’t go further. But, if you answer “Yes,” then move on to the next question… 

2. Are you paid salary? 

To be exempt from overtime pay, you MUST be on salary. Employees who are paid an hourly rate are eligible for overtime pay. Fair enough. However, just because you are paid salary doesn’t mean you don’t qualify to get the extra bucks if you work extra hours. Remember, you must have answered “Yes” to all three questions, not just the one about the salary.

The first two questions are pretty no-brainer—but the third question is where things get screwy because it can appear to have a lot of gray areas. But in reality, it’s pretty straightforward as well…

3. Are your main job duties administrative, professional or executive?

A requirement of exemption from overtime is that job duties be administrative, executive or professional in nature. That means that most of your time spent on the job should be doing things that are:

• administrative (involving independent judgment and discretion–i.e., making decisions on your own or without needing approval)
• professional (like lawyers and doctors) or
• executive (supervises other employees and has input into job status of other employees)

That pretty much means you’re not answering the phone for someone else, inputting all the department expense reports, getting someone coffee or picking up customer service calls the majority of the time on the job. 

Now, many, many employers try to get past this by giving employees fancy job titles, like “Administrative something-or-other” or “something Manager.” They think that sticking that title on the employees means they don’t have to pay the employees overtime. Convenient, no? 

But not so fast. The job title doesn’t determine overtime pay eligibility. In fact, even the job description doesn’t determine it. Overtime eligibility is based on what the employee ACTUALLY does in a shift at work. 

I’ll repeat. Overtime eligibility is based on what the employee ACTUALLY does in a shift at work, regardless of job title or job description. 

In other words, a secretary is still a secretary, even if she is given the job title of “CEO,” if the majority of her duties are secretarial. 

Administrative duties involve things like having authority to make decisions that directly impact the business or company. So if you’re not in a position to do that—even if your job title has “administrative” in it, you may be eligible for overtime pay.

So, if you’re sitting there thinking, “Hey, I’m a shift manager, paid salary but I spend 90 percent of my time doing customer service. Should I be paid overtime?” The answer is, “Most likely, yes.” At the very least, you should look into it and not just rely on what your employer tells you. 

You deserve that overtime pay. You work hard and put in long hours for your employer. The least your employer can do is properly compensate you.

Tags: Exempt, Overtime Pay, Pleading Ignorance

This was posted on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at 4:55 pm and is filed under Emerging Issues, Pleading Ignorance . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.