Human Resource Blog

Exempt but Ready to Work to Save

I am a public sector manager. Due to economy our budget has been decreased for our dept. over the past two years. Yet we still have to get the work done. In an effort to do so and save on our overtime budget can I work alongside my employees at various times?

Thanks,

Kudos to you for taking this step — it is a sign of a good manager. The answer to your question will depend upon the industry you are in and the type of work your employees do. In most industries, an exempt manager can work right beside hourly employees, and even perform the same tasks — as long as the managers primary duties still involve managing the team.

However, an exempt employee cannot perform manual labor such as plumbing or carpentry. So spending even an hour or two at those tasks would make you a non-exempt employee, entitled to overtime when you work more than 40 hours per week.

Examples: Ted is a restaurant manager. From time to time, the kitchen is understaffed and Ted fills in for one of the line cooks on a busy Saturday night. Ted is still an exempt employee, even though he is filling an hourly shift. That is because even while cooking, Ted is supervising the other employees and controlling costs. So he is still acting as a manager — his primary duties have not changed.

However, Carl is the supervisor of a plumbing company. From time to time they are running behind and Carl picks up a wrench to perform some plumbing work. Unfortunately, this makes Carl a non-exempt employee.

Also be aware that some union contracts forbid anyone who is not a union member from performing certain tasks. If your employees belong to a union, that may be a factor.