Friday, June 24, 2016 | At first blush, a constantly plugged-in employee who frequently checks and responds to email after hours and who manages a significant aspect of your business around the clock sounds like an ideal situation. Yet, if this employee is misclassified as exempt, their late-night and weekend work could turn into a significant and unexpected financial burden on the company. Many administrative employees will fail the “salary level test” for exempt status at their current rates of pay under the new Department of Labor standards set to go into effect December 1, 2016. Whether as a consequence of misclassification or a change in the “salary level test,” the employer will need to consider employee’s non-exempt status, including considerations regarding compensation for overtime.
