Are professionals exempt from overtime pay?
The professional exemption is intended to apply to employees who work in recognized professions that typically require a four year college degree or higher such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, scientists, teachers in a recognized school system, etc. Disputes involving the professional exemption typically arise when an employee has developed an area of expertise through on-the-job experience that the employer attempts to claim is a profession such as equipment technicians or journalists or when a person trained as a professional is not performing professional work such as an accountant who is doing bookkeeping. There is a three-part duty test for the professional exemption. With two exemptions, an employee who is not salaried cannot be exempted from receiving overtime compensation as a professional regardless of the employee’s job duties. The exemptions are for teachers, and doctors and lawyers who hold valid licenses to teach, practice medicine or law To exclude an employee
