Robert Tollen Published in FLSA Employee Exemption Handbook "The Ground Rules for Applying The FLSA Exemptions"

Robert Tollen’s article, “The Ground Rules for Applying The FLSA Exemptions,” published in the FLSA Employee Exemption Handbook, explained the five most common exemptions and the rules for applying them. Robert remarked, “HR administrators and other managers responsible for deciding whether to classify particular employees as exempt from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) must understand the ground rules. Too often employees are classified as exempt simply because they are salaried or because they perform important or responsible work.”

The five most common exemptions are: the executive exemption; the administrative exemption; the professional exemption; the exemption for computer systems analysts, computer programmers, etc.; and the exemption for outside salespersons. Robert noted, “Each of the exemptions is significantly different from the others; there is no ‘universal exemption.’”