Content Last Revised: 4/23/04 ---DISCLAIMER---

29CFR541.3 - Scope of the section 13(a)(1) exemptions.

• Section Number: 541.3
• Section Name: Scope of the section 13(a)(1) exemptions.

    (a) The section 13(a)(1) exemptions and the regulations in this 
part do not apply to manual laborers or other ``blue collar'' workers 
who perform work involving repetitive operations with their hands, 
physical skill and energy. Such nonexempt ``blue collar'' employees 
gain the skills and knowledge required for performance of their routine 
manual and physical work through apprenticeships and on-the-job 
training, not through the prolonged
course of specialized intellectual instruction required for exempt 
learned professional employees such as medical doctors, architects and 
archeologists. Thus, for example, non-management production-line 
employees and non-management employees in maintenance, construction and 
similar occupations such as carpenters, electricians, mechanics, 
plumbers, iron workers, craftsmen, operating engineers, longshoremen, 
construction workers and laborers are entitled to minimum wage and 
overtime premium pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and are not 
exempt under the regulations in this part no matter how highly paid 
they might be.
    (b)(1) The section 13(a)(1) exemptions and the regulations in this 
part also do not apply to police officers, detectives, deputy sheriffs, 
state troopers, highway patrol officers, investigators, inspectors, 
correctional officers, parole or probation officers, park rangers, fire 
fighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians, ambulance 
personnel, rescue workers, hazardous materials workers and similar 
employees, regardless of rank or pay level, who perform work such as 
preventing, controlling or extinguishing fires of any type; rescuing 
fire, crime or accident victims; preventing or detecting crimes; 
conducting investigations or inspections for violations of law; 
performing surveillance; pursuing, restraining and apprehending 
suspects; detaining or supervising suspected and convicted criminals, 
including those on probation or parole; interviewing witnesses; 
interrogating and fingerprinting suspects; preparing investigative 
reports; or other similar work.
    (2) Such employees do not qualify as exempt executive employees 
because their primary duty is not management of the enterprise in which 
the employee is employed or a customarily recognized department or 
subdivision thereof as required under Sec.  541.100. Thus, for example, 
a police officer or fire fighter whose primary duty is to investigate 
crimes or fight fires is not exempt under section 13(a)(1) of the Act 
merely because the police officer or fire fighter also directs the work 
of other employees in the conduct of an investigation or fighting a 
fire.
    (3) Such employees do not qualify as exempt administrative 
employees because their primary duty is not the performance of work 
directly related to the management or general business operations of 
the employer or the employer's customers as required under Sec.  
541.200.
    (4) Such employees do not qualify as exempt professionals because 
their primary duty is not the performance of work requiring knowledge 
of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily 
acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction 
or the performance of work requiring invention, imagination, 
originality or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative 
endeavor as required under Sec.  541.300. Although some police 
officers, fire fighters, paramedics, emergency medical technicians and 
similar employees have college degrees, a specialized academic degree 
is not a standard prerequisite for employment in such occupations.