what is a non exempt employee 
a few factors make an employee non exempt such as being entitled to overtime pay earning less than 684 a week per federal law and holding executive administrative or professional positions 1non exempt employees are workers who are entitled to earn at least the federal minimum wage and qualify for overtime pay which is calculated as one and a half times their hourly rate for every hour they work above and beyond a standard 40 hour workweek these regulations are created by the federal fair labor standards act flsa 2understanding non exempt employees non exempt is a term referring to employees who earn less than 684 per week non exempt means that the employee is not exempt from the flsa and must be paid overtime the 684 weekly wage resulting in an annual threshold of 35 568 was put into effect on jan 1 2020 it replaced the old weekly wage of 455 1furthermore non exempt employees non exempt employees are expected to dutifully carry out orders without interjecting their own management decisions for this reason non exempt employees tend to dominate job sectors such as construction manufacturing maintenance and other work that involves physical labor or carrying out repetitive tasks assembly line workers are also a key example of non exempt employees if you are unsure of your employment status speak with your human resources representative if you feel like your position is misclassified consider seeking legal counsel non exempt employee distinctions and qualificationsnon exempt employees are typically paid hourly wages unlike exempt employees who generally earn fixed salaries however while non exempt workers must receive overtime pay of one and a half times their hourly wage for all hours worked in excess of a 40 hour workweek exempt employees are not legally entitled to collect overtime pay even if their workweeks radically exceed 40 hours 4under the flsa workers may be considered non exempt if they either earn less than the 684 weekly minimum or have limited scope for self supervision take for example a maintenance worker who s hired to work 40 hours per week at 18 an hour with typical weekly earnings of 720 they easily pass the salary test to be designated as an exempt worker since their weekly income exceeds the 684 threshold 1but this worker is also directly supervised and therefore has a minimal opportunity for independent judgment hence they are ultimately classified as a non exempt employee if this staffer works 50 hours in a single week they would earn their regular 18 hour rate for 40 hours while earning 1 5 times their hourly rate at 27 for each of the 10 extra hours they clocked in 3under the flsa non exempt employees must earn at least the federal minimum hourly wage of 7 25 however many states and some municipalities impose higher minimum wages versus the federal floor in these cases the higher minimum wage overrides the federal rate 5fair labor standards act overviewthe fair labor standards act created the wage and hour division in 1938 this division oversees the administration and enforcement of labor laws that cover almost all private workers and government employees 6though contested in 1941 the united states supreme court upheld the flsa amendments to the original agreement have continually increased employment legislation including increasing the minimum wage from from 0 75 hour to 7 25 hour the flsa also covers overtime pay allowable hours worked maintenance of pay recordkeeping and child labor laws 62the flsa was last updated in september 2019 with the approved ruling going into effect on jan 1 2020 7advantages and disadvantages of non exempt statuswhether it is preferable to be a non exempt employee versus an exempt one largely depends on an individual s priority for work life balance the biggest benefit to being a non exempt employee is arguably the ability to enjoy additional compensation for working long hours although this may be at a lower rate than salaried exempt employees on the other hand an exempt worker may be able to occasionally duck out of work early and still collect a full paycheck that being said non exempt employees also tend to receive more protection under labor laws like the flsa than exempt employees because exempt employees are entitled to their full paycheck they will receive a full salary every workweek even if unforeseen circumstances such as a crisis require exempt employees to work remotely or under new arrangements on the flip side non exempt employees in these circumstances are not entitled to pay if their physical presence is required for their jobs and they are unable to perform their duties either way non exempt employees are required to log their hours for example non exempt employees folding clothes at a retail store will not get paid if the store is either undergoing remodeling or closed on a given week meanwhile retail store managers who are exempt might still get paid nonetheless for the remote work that they do in managing store operations exempt workers are also more likely to receive benefits such as paid time off healthcare coverage and participation in retirement plans however both non exempt and exempt employees are equally eligible for government employment benefits case in point both categories of workers qualify for social security benefits once they retire and both may be eligible to collect weekly unemployment payments should they lose their jobs receive overtime pay often valued at 1 5 times their usual pay ratemay find it easier to find jobs as positions are often lower skilled or more entry leveloften receive greater protection under flsa lawsstill qualify for government benefits just like exempt employees pay is often less as experience and knowledge is typically not as necessary compared to exempt employeesmay receive less than ideal career advancement opportunities due to the nature of the rolenot entitled to pay if their physical presence is required but preventedexamples of non exempt jobsprior to accepting a role ensure whether the position is exempt or non exempt as positions may be classified differently depending on the nature of the role or company in many respects it may be easier to identify exempt positions and determine what positions do not qualify for exemption status examples include but are not limited to if an employee does not meet any of the criteria above noting that not all situations are listed the employee must be treated as non exempt 