(a) Insurance claims adjusters generally meet the duties
requirements for the administrative exemption, whether they work for an
insurance company or other type of company, if their duties include
activities such as interviewing insureds, witnesses and physicians;
inspecting property damage; reviewing factual information to prepare
damage estimates; evaluating and making recommendations regarding
coverage of claims; determining liability and total value of a claim;
negotiating settlements; and making recommendations regarding
litigation.
(b) Employees in the financial services industry generally meet the
duties requirements for the administrative exemption if their duties
include work such as collecting and analyzing information regarding the
customer's income, assets, investments or debts; determining which
financial products best meet the customer's needs and financial
circumstances; advising the customer regarding the advantages and
disadvantages of different financial
products; and marketing, servicing or promoting the employer's
financial products. However, an employee whose primary duty is selling
financial products does not qualify for the administrative exemption.
(c) An employee who leads a team of other employees assigned to
complete major projects for the employer (such as purchasing, selling
or closing all or part of the business, negotiating a real estate
transaction or a collective bargaining agreement, or designing and
implementing productivity improvements) generally meets the duties
requirements for the administrative exemption, even if the employee
does not have direct supervisory responsibility over the other
employees on the team.
(d) An executive assistant or administrative assistant to a
business owner or senior executive of a large business generally meets
the duties requirements for the administrative exemption if such
employee, without specific instructions or prescribed procedures, has
been delegated authority regarding matters of significance.
(e) Human resources managers who formulate, interpret or implement
employment policies and management consultants who study the operations
of a business and propose changes in organization generally meet the
duties requirements for the administrative exemption. However,
personnel clerks who ``screen'' applicants to obtain data regarding
their minimum qualifications and fitness for employment generally do
not meet the duties requirements for the administrative exemption. Such
personnel clerks typically will reject all applicants who do not meet
minimum standards for the particular job or for employment by the
company. The minimum standards are usually set by the exempt human
resources manager or other company officials, and the decision to hire
from the group of qualified applicants who do meet the minimum
standards is similarly made by the exempt human resources manager or
other company officials. Thus, when the interviewing and screening
functions are performed by the human resources manager or personnel
manager who makes the hiring decision or makes recommendations for
hiring from the pool of qualified applicants, such duties constitute
exempt work, even though routine, because this work is directly and
closely related to the employee's exempt functions.
(f) Purchasing agents with authority to bind the company on
significant purchases generally meet the duties requirements for the
administrative exemption even if they must consult with top management
officials when making a purchase commitment for raw materials in excess
of the contemplated plant needs.
(g) Ordinary inspection work generally does not meet the duties
requirements for the administrative exemption. Inspectors normally
perform specialized work along standardized lines involving well-
established techniques and procedures which may have been catalogued
and described in manuals or other sources. Such inspectors rely on
techniques and skills acquired by special training or experience. They
have some leeway in the performance of their work but only within
closely prescribed limits.
(h) Employees usually called examiners or graders, such as
employees that grade lumber, generally do not meet the duties
requirements for the administrative exemption. Such employees usually
perform work involving the comparison of products with established
standards which are frequently catalogued. Often, after continued
reference to the written standards, or through experience, the employee
acquires sufficient knowledge so that reference to written standards is
unnecessary. The substitution of the employee's memory for a manual of
standards does not convert the character of the work performed to
exempt work requiring the exercise of discretion and independent
judgment.
(i) Comparison shopping performed by an employee of a retail store
who merely reports to the buyer the prices at a competitor's store does
not qualify for the administrative exemption. However, the buyer who
evaluates such reports on competitor prices to set the employer's
prices generally meets the duties requirements for the administrative
exemption.
(j) Public sector inspectors or investigators of various types,
such as fire prevention or safety, building or construction, health or
sanitation, environmental or soils specialists and similar employees,
generally do not meet the duties requirements for the administrative
exemption because their work typically does not involve work directly
related to the management or general business operations of the
employer. Such employees also do not qualify for the administrative
exemption because their work involves the use of skills and technical
abilities in gathering factual information, applying known standards or
prescribed procedures, determining which procedure to follow, or
determining whether prescribed standards or criteria are met.
