It is not uncommon for employers to claim that a certain employee is exempt from overtime compensation benefits because of his title. The California Courts and the Department of Labor have consistently held, however, that the employee's job title has little, if anything to do, with his exempt status. This makes perfect sense. Many people have a title of a "director" or a "manager" when in fact they duties are very simple and basic and where they are clearly entitled to overtime. A classic example is a receptionist who has a title of "Front Office Manager." Some janitorial workers have a title of "Maintenance Directors."
Recently, I have representing an employee of a software company in her overtime claim. The employer claimed that her "Accounting Manager" title and her high salary ($100k per year) alone made her an exempt employee. I drew the employer's attention to numerous cases that clearly suggest that an employee's title or a salary do not determine her status, but it's ultimately the level of duties that makes a difference between exempt and non-exempt status. To be exempt, an employee must be primarily engaged in exempt/executive duties where she exercise a certain degree of control and discretion/creativity. In this case, the employer had to agree that the employee was performing the most basic bookkeeping duties rather than being an "Investment Analyst" as they tried to initially characterize her job description, and the claim settled before the hearing in front of the Labor Board.
To learn more about overtime in California, please visit this article on California Overtime Exemption and Compensation Laws
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