A group of training specialists filed a class action suit against AT&T, alleging they were misclassified as exempt workers in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and California labor laws. The suit alleged that by misclassifying the training workers as exempt, AT&T was able to avoid paying them the extra overtime pay they were entitled to for hours worked longer than 40 per week. The workers were involved in designing company trainings by interviewing experts at the company and then passing the information on to instructors. According to the lawsuit, the training specialists often worked long hours, including late into the night and on weekends.
FLSA Exemptions
There are seven major categories of exempt workers under FLSA. If a worker is classified as exempt, employers are not required to pay them the minimum wage and overtime premium pay, but employers must pay them at least $455 per week on a salary basis except for outside sales employees.
Executive employees are employees whose primary duty is management of the enterprise or a recognized department or subdivision. They regularly direct the work of two or more employees and have authority to hire or fire others, or their suggestions as to hiring, firing, promotions, or other change of status of other employees are given weight.
Administrative employees are those who perform office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or its customers. They must be able to exercise discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance in performing the job.
Learned professional employees are workers whose jobs require advanced knowledge, are primarily intellectual in nature, and require consistent exercise of discretion and judgement. The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning and is normally acquired by a longer course of specialized intellectual instruction.
Outside sales employees are those who make sales or obtain orders for contracts or services, or facilitate the use of facilities which are paid for by clients or customers. They are normally engaged away from the employer’s place of business
Certain computer employees that are exempt are those who apply systems analysis techniques and procedures at work, including consulting with users, determining hardware, software, or system functional applications, design, develop, analyze, and test computer systems or programs related to user or system design specifications or machine operations systems, or a combination of the above.
Creative professional employees are workers whose jobs require invention, imagination, originality, or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor.
Highly compensated employees are those who normally and regularly perform at least one of the duties of an exempt executive, administrative, or professional employee and have a total annual compensation of $100,000 or more.
If you or someone you know is not being paid minimum wage or overtime pay as required by FLSA because of misclassification as an exempt employee, you should call (855) 754-2795 or complete the Free Unpaid Overtime Case Review form on the top right of this page. Our top rated team of wage lawyers will evaluate your situation to determine your best course of action. We will also determine if it is in your best interest to file a lawsuit against your employer. There are strict time limitations for filing so it is important that you call our experienced attorneys today.