Exempt means that the employee is considered to be on salary.
Whether or not they work 20 hour or 90 hours a week makes no matter. They are paid the same, regardless. No time sheets to fill out, no overtime to pay.
Titling them a manager, director, or professional, entitles them to a salary as opposed to an hourly wage.
There are pros and cons to both.
But the government tests for exempt and non-exempt are not about title - they examine what the employee actually does:
“These FLSA exemptions are limited to employees who perform relatively high-level work. Whether the duties of a particular job qualify as exempt depends on what they are. Job titles or position descriptions are of limited usefulness in this determination. (A secretary is still a secretary even if s/he is called an “administrative assistant,” and the chief executive officer is still the CEO even if s/he is called a janitor.) It is the actual job tasks that must be evaluated, along with how the particular job tasks “fit” into the employer’s overall operations.”
That’s the Fair Labor Standards Act talking. Of course, employer may give BS titles and hope they don’t get caught.
FLSA status does not depend on job title. https://www.fuseworkforce.com/blog/what-is-flsa-status-and-how-to-classify-employees-with-it
I have been salaried and I was compensated for my overtime. It was a good company to work for.
I enjoy being a Director.
No one looks over my shoulder. No one micromanages me. I know what I have to do and get it done.
I brought in $500K in new annual business in 9 months (these are renewable contracts so it’s a perpetualjump if the team keeps the clients). I just signed two more clients for another $30K last week and should be closing on a $50K contract next week. I almost met my 1Q 2023 sales goal before the end of 2022 but went out on medical leave. I officially met it by the end of January.
I plan to break $1M this year. My bonus money alone will be more than my husband’s salary (and he is certainly not complaining).
You are correct. When you are raking it in, no one cares how many hours you work.
I love what I do, who I’m doing it for, and have confidence in my team to deliver. They are also giving me all the time I need to handle my health issues.
Best company ever.
Microsoft worked “temp” workers 40 hours or more full time and were sued over it.
Ever since I finished college I've been on salary. Most of those jobs I've had to fill out a time sheet and if I didn't hit 40 hours it would be counted against my vacation. If I worked overtime I wasn't paid a penny extra. Certainly an asymmetrical definition of salary.