I work as an accounting clerk at a ski resort in California. My job is classified as salaried/exempt so I do not get paid overtime.

My boss requires constant overtime for approximately 6 months out of the year when the ski resort is busy. During this busy time, I put in a very hectic 50 hours a week with no breaks. During the off-season, I go back to a 40 hour work week.

Since I am not in a managerial position and do not supervise anyone (I am an accounts payable clerk, which means I do data entry approximately 90% of the time), is my "exempt" status a misclassification? I am not highly paid and when I factor in the unpaid overtime, my pay (of course) is lower yet. I feel my position should be non-exempt rather than exempt and I should be compensated for the hours I put in above 40.

Can anyone out there give me some feedback on this? I know my employer considers me exempt based on the "administrative exemption" but I'm not sure I agree with this.

Thank you.

From the DLSE:

administrative exemption
A person employed in an administrative capacity means any employee:

Whose duties and responsibilities involve either:
The performance of office or non-manual work directly related to management policies or general business operations of his or her employer or his or her employer's customers, or
The performance of functions in the administration of a school system, or educational establishment or institution, or of a department or subdivision thereof, in work directly related to the academic instruction or training carried on therein; and
Who customarily and regularly exercised discretion and independent judgment; and
Who regularly and directly assists a proprietor, or an employee employed in a bona fide executive or administrative capacity, or
Who performs, under only general supervision, work along specialized or technical lines requiring special training, experience, or knowledge, or
Who executes, under only general supervision, special assignments and tasks, and
Who is primarily engaged in duties which meet the test for the exemption.
An administrative employee must also earn a monthly salary equivalent to no less than two times the state minimum wage for full-time employment. Full-time employment means 40 hours per week as defined in Labor Code Section 515(c).

Exempt classifications are a function of actual job duties, not job titles. I have had Accounts Payable and Payroll generally report to me for several decades and I have never had an AP clerk who was classified as Exempt. If you had a big enough company were certain staffers were specifically specilzed, it is possible for an AP staffer to be Exempt under the Administrative exception. Possible, but not greatly likely. I have never had an AP staffer classified as Exempt who was not a supervisor. Get the AP department big enough, say several dozen employees and you would probably end up with a few non-supervisors who jobs were sufficently speclalized to support an Exempt claim. Maybe a bank or foreign currency specialist. But I can see no way to have an AP clerk in a small department who spends "90% of their time doing data entry" as Exempt.

Thank you for your replies.

It definitely sounds like my position should be non-exempt. Specifically, for the following reasons:

1. My salary is NOT equivalent to two times California's minimum wage (it is close to that but not quite)
2. I am not performing a specialized function.
3. I am not supervising anyone.

I have only been with the company for 5 months; however, I have been working constant overtime for 4 out of those 5 months. Is it best to first approach my employer on an informal basis about my position being misclassified and see what the response is? Since cutting operating expenses is a priority in the company, they are going to be reluctant to shell out money to me for retroactive overtime pay. However, if they want to do it the "hard way", then I could file a legal claim against the company.

Any suggestions for me as to what is the best way to go?

Thank you again.

"Best" is subjective. Your most obvious course of action is to file a wage claim with CA-DLSE. A small claims court action is a possibility. Talking to a lawyer about a general court action is a possibility. Talking to your employer is a possibility.

One point to consider. If you file a wage claim, this action does not prevent your employer from terminating you, but it does give you the possibility of recourse for the termination if you can sucessfully claim that filing the wage claim was the reason for the termination. On the other hand just talking to your employer about the problem gives you no such protection.