What is the Difference Between Exempt and Nonexempt Employees?

difference between exempt and nonexempt employees

Employment laws can be very confusing. In California, laws are designed to protect employees from unfair practices such as misclassifying exempt and nonexempt employees to save operating expense. Many people believe that employees are classified the same way after they are hired, but that isn’t usually the case. There are key differences whether an employee is classified as “exempt” or “non-exempt”.

To put it simply, exempt employees are not qualified for overtime pay and, as such, they do not earn more income than their salary for their overtime work. On the other hand, nonexempt employees must be paid for every hour they work, whether they get paid hourly or a fixed salary at the end of the month.

Exempt employees usually have managerial responsibilities, such as administrators, doctors, architects, lawyers and specialized computer professionals. Understanding the difference between “exempt” and “non-exempt” employees is something that many employers take advantage of, since most employees do not realize that there is a difference. Some employers classify employees as “exempt” in order to save large sums of money in wages that they would otherwise have to pay for an employee classified as “non-exempt”.

Our employment lawyers will take legal action against an employer that misclassifies an employee. When there are questions about how you should be classified, to be sure, you should always confirm with a labor law attorney to know whether or not you qualify as an exempt employee. If you find yourself in this situation, you can confidentially consult with our employment attorney to discuss your situation.

Exempt and Nonexempt Employees. Free Consultation

Our firm will go to great lengths in order to protect your legal rights as an employee. To be clear, it doesn’t matter if you are paid hourly or by salary, if you work overtime as a non-exempt employee, you are entitled for compensation for that time spent working, and the employment attorney at our firm is here to help you get fair compensation.

Remember that even if you have a lot of responsibilities and independence at work, you might still be able to qualify as a non-exempt employee, and it is always best to check with someone who knows for sure, so gives us a call and an employee rights attorney at our firm will privately discuss your best options with you.

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