The U.S. Department of Labor issued a Final Rule updating minimum wage requirements for exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). This change goes into effect December 1, 2016.
Does this impact your private school? Yes, and you need to begin preparing now for this change. To help you do that, Dr. Tom Cathey, ACSI’s Director for Legal Legislative Issues, will conduct a webinar on Thursday August 25 at 10am PST.
Dr. Cathey will cover the basics of the new regulations, what has changed, and what you need to do. There will also be time for questions and answers.
Is there an exemption for schools and institutions of higher education from either the FLSA or the Department’s overtime regulations governing white collar workers?
Schools and institutions of higher education are generally covered by the FLSA’s minimum wage and overtime provisions. However, several provisions apply to many employees at these institutions that exempt them from the Final Rule.
Teachers are exempt if their primary duty is teaching, tutoring, instructing or lecturing. “Teachers” include, for example, regular academic teachers, kindergarten or nursery school teachers, teachers of gifted or disabled children, professors, adjunct instructors, teachers of skilled and semi-skilled trades and occupations, home economics teachers, vocal or instrument music teachers, and under certain circumstances, athletic coaches and assistant coaches. Although a preschool may engage in some educational activities, preschool employees whose primary duty is to care for the physical needs of the facility’s children would not meet the requirements for the exemption as a bona fide teacher.
Generally, the Department views graduate and undergraduate students who are engaged in research under a faculty member’s supervision in the course of obtaining a degree to be in an educational relationship and not an employment relationship with the school or with a grantor. As such, the Department will not assert such workers are entitled to overtime.
