What Are Exempt Job Duties

A employee is exempt only if he or she also performs exempt job duties. This is sometimes called the "duties test." The exemption from overtime is limited to employees who perform relatively high-level work involving a good deal of judgment and discretion. Whether the duties of a particular job or category of job qualifies as exempt depends on the nature of the particular duties. Job titles or position descriptions are of limited usefulness in this determination. (A secretary is still a secretary even if s/he is called an "executive assistant"). It is the actual job tasks that must be evaluated (along with where and how the particular job tasks "fit" into the employer's overall operations). There are three typical categories of exempt job duties, called "executive," "administrative," and "professional."