Sorry accountants, but your professional designation makes you a full-on professional and thus excluded from overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Gena Usenheimer of Seyfarth Shaw explains that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held, in what must have been an unsurprising judgment, that entry-level accountants are considered professionals. However, “the decision offers broad guidance as [to] the meaning of the professional exemption generally,” which is applicable across all industries, she says.
The professional exemption under the FLSA is a three-pronged test. It requires (i) intellectual work, (ii) in a field of science or learning, (iii) where specialized academic training is a standard prerequisite. In the recent case, the court focused on the first and last factors, and specifically dealt with the meaning of “advanced knowledge,” says Usenheimer.
