Job Duties

Not every employee who earns $455 or more per week is exempt from overtime. The employee must also be performing certain types of work -- generally, work that requires an advanced degree, is managerial or supervisory in nature, or requires the employee to make relatively high-level business decisions. Here are the basic requirements for the administrative, executive, and professional exemptions.

• An administrative employee must perform office or other non-manual work that is directly related to the management or business operations of the employer or its customers, and must exercise discretion and independent judgment regarding significant issues.
• An executive employee's primary duty must be managing the employer's enterprise or a recognized division or department of that enterprise; the employee must regularly supervise at least two full-time employees (or the equivalent), and must have the authority to hire and fire or have significant input into hiring and firing decisions.
• A professional employee's primary duty must either be performing work that requires advanced knowledge in the field of science or learning, of a type that is usually attained through an advanced course of study; or performing work that requires invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a recognized creative or artistic field.

To learn more about these exemptions, visit the Department of Labor's website at www.dol.gov.