Does an employee have to have a special degree to be exempt from the Professional Exemption test?
A. Professionals who have substantially the same knowledge level and perform substantially the same work as the degreed employees, but who attained the advanced knowledge through a combination of work experience an intellectual instruction may meet the test for exemption. The learned professional exemption is not available for occupations that customarily may be performed with only the general knowledge acquired by an academic degree in any field, with knowledge acquired through an apprenticeship or with training in the performance of routine mental, manual, mechanical or physical processes. Also, the test does not apply to occupations in which most employees have acquired their skill by experience rather than by advanced specialized intellectual instruction (29 CFR part 541.301 d).
