New FLSA Opinion Letters
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) publicly released several Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) opinion letters today. The two most interesting letters deal with cattle industry Field Inspectors and court reporters.
In the first letter, the DOL found that because a cattle industry Field Inspector generally spent the majority of his time managing his assigned district and supervising staff (and was paid on a salary basis over the minimum amount), he met the requirements of section 541.100(a) 2-4 and was therefore exempt from overtime compensation under the FLSA. The DOL distinguished the Field Inspectors in question from those excluded from the FLSA exemptions by section 541.3(b)(2) because their primary duty is management of a customarily recognized department, not duties related to investigations (although they do participate in investigations as part of their job duties).
In the second letter, the DOL opined that a court reporter does not qualify as an exempt employee under the FLSA. The court reporter did not qualify for the executive exemption because she did not regularly supervisor two or more employees. She also did not qualify for the administrative exemption because she did not exercise discretion and independent judgment; rather, she performed manual transcription work. Further, because the court reporter required completion of only a court reporting course and state certification, and not an advanced academic degree, she did not qualify for the professional exemption.
Both are worth reading for a quick refresher course on FLSA overtime exemptions.
Tags: FLSA/Overtime
November 21st, 2007 at 12:46 pm
The second DOL letter, regarding the court reporter, notes an important exemption on page 4:
“Finally, the job description states that the court reporter is ‘paid separately for transcriptions.’ Under FLSA Section 7(o)(6), time spent by an employee of a public agency performing court reporting transcription duties will not be considered hours worked if the employee
‘is paid at a per-page rate which is not less than - (i) the maximum rate established by State law or local ordinance for the jurisdiction of [the] public agency, (ii)the maximum rate otherwise established by a judicial or administrative officer and in effect on July 1, 1995, or (iii) the rate freely negotiated between the employee and the party requesting the transcript, other than the judge who presided over the proceedings being transcribed, and … the hours spent performing such duties are outside of the hours such employee performs other work (including hours for which the agency requires the employee’s attendance) pursuant to the employment relationship with such public agency.’
“You have not provided enough information to enable us to determine whether some or all of the court reporter’s transcription duties would be governed by this provision of the FLSA.”
Many if not most reporters working in courts would fit under this exemption, which was created by PL 104-26, the Court Reporter Fair Labor Amendments of 1995. The purpose, as explained in the bill’s report from the House Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities, “is to limit the overtime compensation for official court reporters when being paid at a per-page rate outside of the hours such employee performs other work pursuant to the employment relationship with the court.”