What’s surprisingly difficult for many HR professionals is gauging whether these workers legally qualify as exempt from the federal overtime regulations. Executive-level titles and corner offices don’t matter at all; what you need to look at are factors such as specific managerial duties and the ability to hire and fire other employees.

Determining whether employees meet the executive exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a very tricky business. The federal guidelines for overtime exemptions changed dramatically a few years ago, and many states now enforce their own separate definitions and rules. Even an honest mistake can land you in a heap of expensive trouble, including paying out several years’ worth of back pay, plus additional damages and attorney’s fees.

Order this in-depth, practical 90-minute audio conference recording all about the executive exemption. Our expert speaker will explain the rules governing this exemption, including the most recent changes to the “regularly exercise discretionary powers” test, as well as others. She’ll also share practical techniques for classifying executive employees correctly, the best ways to avoid common overtime exemption mistakes, and advice on conducting effective internal audits to spot errors before they turn into big trouble.

You and your colleagues will learn:

• The most common mistakes employers make when classifying executive employees – and how you can avoid repeating them
• How to correctly apply the salary level and standard duties tests to your executive workers
• Whether executive employees must have sole discretion to hire and fire workers in order to qualify for exempt status
• What the phrase “particular weight” means in the FLSA regulations – in plain English – and how the definition may affect your typical exempt executive’s basic job duties
• The types of work that the FLSA considers “managerial duties”
• How to review your executive-level job classifications and descriptions for red flags that could mean classification errors
• The recordkeeping techniques you can use to defend your exemptions for executive employees
• The safest ways to fix executive exemption classification errors – without triggering DOL audits and employee claims

Workers can be classified as exempt from overtime if they fall under one of four exemptions. The executive exemption, covered in depth in this audio conference, is one of the four. Don’t miss these upcoming audio conferences from BLR that will provide additional in-depth guidance on the other three exemptions:

• December 2 — The Administrative Exemption (on CD)
• December 4 — The Professional Exemption (on CD)
• December 11 — The Outside Sales Exemption (on CD)

Order all 4 on CD and save $277!
CD recordings: just $599—over a 30% savings

There’s no better way to get your wage & hour practices in line for 2009 than a complete review of the four overtime exemptions—take advantage of our full series and save now.

Kristine E. Kwong, Esq., is a partner in the Los Angeles office of the national law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP. She advises and counsels clients on a wide range of business and employment issues, including wage and hour matters, noncompete and restrictive covenant agreements, executive compensation packages, the full range of disciplinary matters, discrimination, harassment, and leaves of absences, including the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). In addition, her practice includes the drafting and updating of handbooks, policy manuals, codes of conduct, and severance packages, and she regularly produces and presents training programs for employers on current issues of employment law. Kwong earned her law degree from the University of the Pacific (McGeorge School of Law).

Approved for Recertification Credit

This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org. The use of this seal is not an endorsement by HRCI of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met HRCI’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification.

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