People Processes

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wvWuy0oBhU] In Part 2 of our series on understanding FLSA exemptions, we went over the qualifications for the administrative employee exemption. In Part 3, we will cover the professional exemption. There are two general types of exempt professional employees: learned professionals and creative professionals. To qualify for the learned professional employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met: The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis at a rate not less than $684 per week (as of 2020). The employee’s primary duty must be the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual in character and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment. The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning. The advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction. To qualify for the creative professional