FSLA - OCS Response

Dear Principals:

I send this letter in the hopes that your Monday is the beginning of a great week. I also hope that this note may provide you with the final answer to resolve the uncertainties about paying our employees a salary or an hourly wage. Finally, please accept my apology for any confusion we may have caused in attempting to address this matter with earlier correspondence.

Let’s cut right to the chase:
According to FSLA, there are two kinds of employees in every workplace: Exempt and Nonexempt.

1. Exempt (Exempt from overtime): Exempt Employees are not entitled to overtime pay. They are paid a salary. They are also expected to work as many hours as it takes to fulfill their job duties, even if it means having to work more than 40 hours during the work week.
2. Nonexempt (Not Exempt from Overtime): Nonexempt employees are entitled to overtime pay equal to time and one-half of their “regular rate” of pay for each hour they actually work over 40 hours in a work week.

In order to find out if an employee is Exempt or Nonexempt:
FSLA provides two tests to determine the correct classification, and the job MUST clearly meet both tests:
1. Salary Basis Test: The employee must earn at least $455/week.
2. Duties Test: The employee must perform relatively high level work and have considerable “independent judgment and discretion with respect to matters of significance.” The employee’s job titles do not determine whether the exemption is valid, it is the actual job tasks that must be evaluated.

And finally:
Schools have three different classification of employees:
1. Faculty: Those employees who are required to be credentialed (by OSPI) to work with children. This normally includes teachers, counselors, school psychologists, etc.
2. Administrators: Those employees who are responsible for supervising others. This normally includes presidents, principals, and directors
3. Support staff: Those employees who support the faculty and administration in the school operations and classroom. This normally includes office staff, child care, food service, transportation, classroom aides, maintenance, janitors, etc.

The number of school employees that qualify as exempt are few and limited to Faculty and Administration (Principal, Teachers, Counselors, IT Directors, etc., and possibly the Development / Advancement Director). All other employees (support staff employees) do not qualify as exempt and therefore, the school needs to account for their actual hours worked in Ultipro on a weekly basis. If these employees exceed 40 hours of work during the week, they qualify and deserve to be paid overtime for each hour worked beyond the 40 hours.

I understand that schools may have employees currently being paid a salary that should be paid an hourly wage. At the school’s convenience – but definitely before July 1, 2015, all nonexempt support staff employees shall be transitioned to an hourly wage. Unfortunately, we cannot make exceptions to this rule.

If you have any questions for which I may help answer, please feel free to email them to me and I will assure they are answered in a timely manner.

Peace and all good things…

Patrick Haggarty, Ed.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Archdiocese of Seattle