Status Classification: Exempt vs. Nonexempt

Correct employee classification is essential. Avoid lawsuits and learn how to navigate the complex rules of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employees and their counsel continue to pursue individual and class action overtime claims based on the alleged misclassification of exempt workers at a fever pitch.

Thousands of lawsuits asserting violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act or parallel state laws are filed each year, and the costs of defending these matters and the damages claimed and paid, whether through trial or settlement, are staggering.

These cases frequently involve individual and class action claims that employers have misclassified employees eligible for overtime as exempt in an effort to cheat them out of their rightful pay.

This topic will help you understand the overtime exemptions available under the law, the nature of the claims asserted by plaintiffs, and the newest areas of focus and arguments advanced by plaintiffs' counsel. It will also explain what steps you can take to assure proper classifications and to minimize the likelihood and success of these misclassification claims.

General Principles Under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and Similar State Wage and Hour Laws

Understanding and Complying With the Basic White-Collar Exemptions

• The Executive, Administrative, Professional and Computer Professional Duties Tests
  
• Salary Requirements and the Highly Compensated Employee Exemption
  
• The Salary Basis Test

Understanding and Complying With Other Overtime Exemptions, Including the Outside Sales, Retail Sales and Service, Recreation and Amusement, Domestic Worker and Motor Carrier Act Exemptions

What Can an Employer Do to Assure Classifications Are Accurate and to Minimize the Risks

• CLE
• CPE
• AIPB
• SHRM
• NASBA
• CPP/FPC
• HR Certification Institute

For Detailed Credit Information page click here

Only registered attendee will receive continuing education credit.

Patrick M. Madden, K&L Gates LLP

• Partner and former co-chair of the Labor and Employment and Class Action Practice Groups at K&L Gates LLP
• Advises employers on wage and hour payment and compliance and compensation plan design
• Assists employers responding to agency investigations, and represents employers in wage and hour, discrimination, and other employment lawsuits at the state and federal levels
• Worked on hundreds of state, regional and national wage and hour class actions, including lawsuits involving wage calculation and payment issues, entitlement to overtime and benefits, off-the-clock claims, challenges to exempt status and claims to employee status
• Listed as a top labor and employment attorney in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, a super lawyer in Washington Law & Politics, a Washington State litigation star by Benchmark Litigation, and a leading employment lawyer in Seattle Business and Seattle Metropolitan magazines
• Frequently speaks, writes, and testifies on wage and hour and wage payment issues
• J.D. degree, with highest honors, University of Washington School of Law, where he was managing editor of the Washington Law Review; B.F.A. degree, Pacific Lutheran University
• Can be contacted at patrick.madden@klgates.com

Michael A. Pavlick, K&L Gates LLP

• Partner in the Pittsburgh office of K&L Gates LLP
• Practice emphasizes all aspects of labor and employment law, with a focus on wage and hour law
• Conducts regular seminars and workshops on numerous aspects of labor and employment compliance, including wage and hour issues
• Author of several publications related to the areas of labor and employment
• J.D. degree, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, Case Western Reserve University; B.A. degree, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Drew University
• Best Lawyers’ Lawyer of the Year in 2012 for Labor and Employment Litigation in Pittsburgh
• Can be contacted at michael.pavlick@klgates.com