DOL Provides "Safe Harbor" From Loss Of "White Collar" Exemptions Under The FLSA

Mondaq Business Briefing, September, 2004

The U.S. Department of Labor recently revised its regulations relating to the so-called "white collar" exemptions from the minimum wage and overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"), including the exemptions for bona fide executive, administrative, and professional employees. Under the new regulations (and the former regulations they replaced), exempt executive employees and, in most cases, exempt administrative and professional employees must be paid on a salary basis, and the Department of Labor strictly limits the deductions that an employer may make from an exempt employee's salary. Improper deductions from an otherwise exempt employee's salary will cause the exemption to be lost (and entitle the employee to pursue a claim for unpaid overtime) unless...