Human Resource Blog

Salaried Exempt

	Compensation
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What laws are there to protect the rights of “Salaried Exempt” employees from abusive employer practices? Basically “Salaried Exempt” employees seem to have only one recourse in dealing with overbearing employers and that is to quit the job. Is this right???

Almost every protection that hourly workers enjoy in the workplace is also extended to salaried workers. Salaried workers cannot be the victims of illegal discrimination, including that based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age (over 40) or disability.

Salaried workers are entitled to unpaid leave under FMLA, and any relevant state family leave laws.

OSHA ensures that employers provide a safe, healthy work environment for every worker, including those that are salaried-exempt.

In every state, an employer can require almost any worker to put in 50, 60 or even 100 hours per week – as long as the employer pays time-and-a-half for overtime. (There are a few exceptions for certain occupations, such as nurses and truck drivers.)

The only difference between a salaried-exempt employee and an hourly worker is that the salaried-exempt worker is not entitled to overtime pay when working more than 40 hours per week. (Also, in some cases, the minimum wage law does not apply to salaried-exempt workers.)