NYS Part-Time Exempt Employees Earning Less Than $780 a Week are Nonexempt in Business and at Work

The upstate New York minimum wage will rise to $10.40 an hour on and after December 31, 2017, and will remain in effect until the upstate New York minimum wage rises again on December 31, 2018.

Similarly, the upstate New York minimum exempt (exempt from overtime) salary level will rise to $780.00 a week on and after December 31, 2017, and will remain in effect until the upstate New York minimum exempt level rises again on December 31, 2018.

When an exempt employee works a half-time (20 hours a week) schedule, the typical employer response is to cut the exempt employee’s full-time salary in half.

However, in order to ensure that the exempt employee remains exempt (aside from qualifying from a duties and title level) in NYS, the 20-hour part-time salary must at minimum be $780.00 a week or more on and after December 31, 2017.

If the employee’s weekly salary does not reach the $780.00 a week upstate NYS minimum level, then the employee must be classified as nonexempt, and be paid on a nonexempt (and in most cases) hourly basis, also eligible for overtime.

How do you ensure that your part-time exempt employees are paid at least $780.00 a week in business and at work?