can an employer make change my status from non exempt to exempt without my agreeing to it?
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can an employer make change my status from non exempt to exempt without my agreeing to it?
I was given a status sheet that changed my status from non exempt to exempt
without any increase in salary. when I said I would not sign it without
additional compensation so I was told that I didn’t need to sign it for the
change to take place.
Asked on February 24, 2017 under Employment Labor Law, Oregon
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 7 years ago | Contributor
Unless you have a written employment contract guarantying your status as non-exempt, the employer may make this change without your consent: except if, and only to the extent that, your employment status is guaranteed or locked-in by contract, you are an employee at will, and your employer may change how you are paid at will.
There is, however, one large limitation on the employer: they must comply with the law. To be exempt, you must be paid an annual salary (not weekly wages); that salary must exceed more than approximately $23k per year; *and* your job duties, responsibilities, and/or authority must meet one or more of the "tests" to be exempt, the main ones of which are the "executive" exemption (which should be called the "managerial" exemption, since it applies to non-executive managers, too), the "adminstrative personnel" exemption, or the "professional" and "computer professional" exemptions. You can find these tests on the U.S. Dept. of Labor website, under "overtime"--unless you are a salaried employee making enough per year AND you fall under one or more test, you must be nonexempt. But if you do meet the criteria to be exempt, you an exempt or nonexempt at your employer's wil or choice.
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