What Are Professional Exemptions?

If your Palm Beach Gardens or other South Florida employer has told you that you are ineligible for overtime pay, you have likely been told that you are an “exempt” employee, and therefore you are not entitled to receive overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), a federal law that provides a range of protections to employees across the country. In order for an employer to be able to consider you exempt, which means the employer is not required to pay you overtime wages, a series of requirements or “tests” must be met. One of those is a “duties test,” which asks what the primary duties of the employee involve. If the primary duties of the employee meet one of the exemptions outlined by the FLSA, then the employer must move onto two more tests before being able to classify the employee as exempt.

Duties are classified into different job types by the FLSA. One of those job types is a bona fide professional employee. Our Palm Beach Gardens wage and hour lawyers can tell you more about the duties associated with the professional employee exemption.

Two Types of Professionals

The FLSA recognizes two different types of professionals and clarifies the duties of each professional distinctly. The types of professionals include the “learned professional” and the “creative professional.”

Learned Professional Exemption

In order for an employee to qualify for the “learned professional” exemption, all of the following must be true according to the FLSA:

• Employee meets the salary basis and salary level tests;
• Employee’s primary duty is performing that requires advanced knowledge, which means work that is “predominantly intellectual in character” and requires the employee’s consistent discretion and judgment;
• Employee’s advanced knowledge is in a field of science or learning; and
• Employee’s advance knowledge is of a type usually acquired through a “prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.”

A learned professional might include, for example, a university professor or a scientist running a laboratory.

Creative Professional Exemption

In order for an employee to qualify for the “creative professional” exemption, all of the following must be true according to the FLSA:

• Employee meets the salary basis and salary level tests; and
• Employee’s primary duty is performing work that requires “invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor.”

Examples may include, for example, an artist-in-residence or working visual artist, filmmaker, or playwright.

Contact a Palm Beach Gardens Wage and Hour Lawyer

Any employee in South Florida who has worked overtime but has not been compensated appropriately for overtime hours and is eligible under the FLSA should seek legal help. Properly classifying employees as “exempt” versus “non-exempt” can become complicated, and if you were misclassified, you should have an attorney on your side to help you fight for the wages you are owed. An experienced Palm Beach Gardens wage and hour attorney at Sconzo Law Office can speak with you today to learn more about your circumstances and help you to file a claim for unpaid wages if necessary.

Source:

dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/17a-overtime