2nd Circuit deems Connecticut nurse consultant exempt from overtime pay

The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals (whose decisions are binding on federal courts in Connecticut, New York, and Vermont) has issued a ruling that provides significant guidance on overtime exemptions for professional employees. The recent decision was a win for the employer.

Quick FLSA recap

We've written about the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) before, but a quick recap is always helpful. Among other things, the FLSA requires employers to pay certain employees who work more than 40 hours a week overtime at a rate that's higher than their usual rate. However, the law also states that employers don't need to pay overtime to certain types of “exempt” employees.

Among the categories of employees who are exempt from the FLSA's overtime requirement are employees who work in a “professional capacity.” Regulations adopted by the U.S. Department of Labor have led courts to analyze whether an employee works in a professional capacity and is therefore exempt from overtime by asking whether her primary job duty requires (1) advanced knowledge (2) in a field of science or learning that is (3) customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.

RN questions exempt classification