Wage Exemption Guidelines

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You should be aware of the general wage exemption guidelines for when an employee is entitled to an hourly wage or a salary, since this can avoid complaints from employees who wish to switch their status from one to the other. The key guidelines for designating a person as being eligible for a salary are as follows:

Administrative. Those in charge of an administrative department, even if they supervise no one, and anyone assisting management with long-term strategy decisions.
Executive. Those who manage more than 50% of the time and supervise at least two employees.
Professional. Those who spend at least 50% of their time on tasks requiring knowledge obtained through a four-year college degree (including systems analysis, design, and programming work on computer systems, even if a four-year degree was not obtained). The position must also allow for continued independent decision making and minimal close supervision.