Human Resource Blog

Exempt Employees in Vermont

Which employees are exempt in Vermont?

Many types of employees may be exempt from coverage by the Fair Labor Standards Act. The FLSA is a federal Act that applies to companies across the country, including employers in the state of Vermont. When an employee is covered by the Act, employer must pay the employee at least minimum wage for the work that the employee performs.

The FLSA is the federal Act that establishes minimum wage. Minimum wage is the base rate of pay that employers must pay every employee for the hours that they work. Not only does the FLSA establish minimum wage, but it also establishes that employees should be paid overtime rates for the hours that they work in addition to the standard 40 hour work week. Overtime should be paid at a rate of time and a half the normal rate of pay.

Employees in Vermont should be compensated according to the FLSA unless they qualify for exempt status. Many types of employees may qualify, including executives, administrators, contractors, and outside sales staff.

In order for an executive to be exempt from coverage, the executive needs to meet at least the following requirements:

·         The individual needs to be paid at least $455 per week

·         He or she needs to directly oversee a division within the enterprise, or the enterprise as a whole

·         The employer needs to have at least two employees working directly underneath him or her

·         The executive also needs to be in charge of making employment-related decisions about an employee that directly affect the employee, such as a decision about hiring, promoting, compensating or otherwise.

Administrators may be exempt from coverage if they receive at least $455 per week. Also, administrators need to have the ability to make decisions about their jobs that are considered to be significant decisions (which varies from administrative position to administrative position). CB