Accurate Exempt Job Descriptions are Essential for Compliance in Business and at Work

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: writing job descriptions is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Tediousness aside, ensuring that the job descriptions are an accurate representation of the exempt employee’s work is essential on a number of levels, notwithstanding compliance.

Exempt employees’ job descriptions should be the first priority for employers, including but not limited to the following reasons:

• Accurate job descriptions are one of the key ways that the employer (and any third party conducting an audit of your job descriptions, e.g. the Department of Labor) can provide documentary proof that the employee is indeed exempt.
• An employee’s job description is an effective method for the employer and the employee to literally get on the same page, ensuring that everyone involved understands and accepts what the job requirements are for the employee.
• An accurate job description can provide the foundation for developing an employee’s key performance indicators (KPIs) to in turn evaluate the employee’s performance.

A few words of advice to keep job descriptions relevant for your business:

• Review job descriptions at least once a year: they’re not meant to be set in stone.
• Ensure that the employee has input to the job description – they know their job best. A job inventory signed by the employee is a best practice.
  • In the event of a third-party audit, an auditor will interview the employees first, confirming that their respective job descriptions are an accurate representation of their work.
• Finally: include an acknowledgment page for the employee to sign, indicating their understanding and acceptance of their job description.

An accurate job description is not the only data point that determines an employee’s exempt status. Exempts are evaluated on the following 3 factors:

• Job title
• Job duties
• Salary level.
  • For example: the 2020 minimum exempt salary level for upstate New York is $885.00/week ($46,020 annually)
  • In 2021, the minimum exempt salary level for upstate New York will rise to $937.50/week ($48,750 annually).

How do you best confirm that the exemption status of an exempt employee is compliant, in business and at work?