Amidst the rollercoaster of the last few years, it can be tempting to take for granted many of the workplace challenges that predated COVID-19. Many of those timeless employment law issues, however, have resurfaced with a twist in 2022.
One such legal issue is wage and hour law. The evolution of job responsibilities due to workforce shortages, remote work and a shifting economy, as well as increased oversight from the Department of Labor and a rise in employee-side litigation, make this a prudent time to revisit job descriptions and wage law classifications in the workplace. Though misclassification is an easy mistake to make, it can be costly to correct.
Refresher of Exemption Requirements and Penalties
The default legal presumption is that an employee is entitled to federal and/or state minimum wage[1] for all hours worked, and to overtime pay (typically calculated at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay) for hours worked over 40. Contrary to popular myth, payment to an employee on a salaried basis does not guarantee that a position is exempt. Instead, most exemptions to these entitlements rely on a combination of compensation amount, compensation method and job responsibilities. It is a fact-specific analysis that depends on an employee’s day-to-day responsibilities, not only their written job description.
The consequences of misclassification can be steep. A plaintiff who successfully demonstrates that they were misclassified as exempt is entitled to collect (1) unpaid...
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