How to determine if I am Exempt,or non-Ex ? Texas

[yam314]

I work as a service tech for a company the supplies instrumentationn to the Petro-Chem industry. I have always been paid for my ot in excess of 40 hrs for the 30 yrs I have been in this business.My boss now tells me that I cannot get any ot pay unless I have 40 hrs of BILLABLE hrs for that week.Unfortunately, I am not always 100% billable for some weeks.

One example,I was on a job where I could have billed a full 40 hrs to a customer,but I was called to the main office by my boss to attend a mandatory meeting for 8 hrs (non-billable).Then I had to go back to the customers site on a Saturday (which would have normally been OT),but now I had 40 hrs billable + 8 hrs non-billable,so he would not pay any ot,only 40 hrs straight time

Another example,I was scheduled for a job as a Turnaround Coordinator where I would be working about 4-6 hrs a day chargable to the Customer.Then around Thursday,it was decided that I would have to work Sat/Sun for about 6 hrs each day (billable to the Customer).Boss said that no ot would be paid,until a full 40 hrs had been billed.Even though I was at work for all 7 days.

Even though I am not always billing the Customer a full 40 hrs/per week,I am expected to attend meetings,provide training,and do Warranty jobs that are non-billable.

The boss said that I am considered exempt salary,even though when I hired on 20 yrs ago,I was verbally told that I was non-exempt.I do not have this in writing though.Shouldn't this type of job be considerd "Non-Exempt"?

[CatBert]

Your post

I believe that your boss is trying to get out of paying overtime, as many do. My suggestion is to ask your employer what exemption you fall into as stated by the Fair Labor Standards Act...the employer may be able to provide a category, but it is unlikely that it holds any water.

This is a great place for you to start http://www.dol.gov/

All the best in working this out.

[yam314]

I guess it is how they are going to describe my job title.My company has a lot of Salesmen (exempt),as well as warehouse/mechanic types (hourly).
I am somewhere in between in that I go to Customer's sites and bill for my time. They may try to consider me under the "Professional" catagory,but isn't that for Engineers,Doctors and guys w/ lots of degrees?

[DAW]

Job titles are legally meaningless. Classification tests look at actual job duties performed. Most sales people are in fact non-exempt. There is an Exempt classification for Outside Sales, but that has some pretty specific rules associated with it. Warehouse and mechanic work tends to be non-exempt. "Hourly" is just a payment method and generally has nothing to do with whether or not overtime is paid. Some exempt classifications require a salaried payment basis, but being paid salaried does not make one Exempt and being paid hourly does not make one non-exempt. I can give you a pointer to some of the more common Exempt classifications, although there are in fact more like 100 or so in total.
http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/fairpay/main.htm

[yam314]

Thanks,that's the sort of info that I was looking for.
According to all of the definitions, I am non-exempt. I am planning on talking w/ the HR Director,since my manager seems clueless,and only gets mad and definsive when I bring up this topic.

[DAW]

If you do nothing else, start keeping track of actual hours worked at home. Do not use company time or equipment to do this. A paper notebook and pen works great. Then if you ever leave the company, there is no reason not to file a wage claim on your way out the door. It works or it does not.

[yam314]

I posed this question to my HR folks. Guess what,they are now paying me for OT! Thanks for all of the good advice guys!

Jeff in Texas

[CatBert]

Congratulations! I'm glad it worked out for you!