To qualify for the learned professional employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met:

• You must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $455 per week;

• Your primary duty must be the performance of work requiring advanced knowledge, defined as work which is predominantly intellectual in character and which includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment; 

• The advanced knowledge must be in a field of science or learning; and

• The advanced knowledge must be customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.

Most commonly, this exemption applies to workers who have advanced degrees or specialized training, such as doctors, lawyers, teachers, accountants, etc.

To qualify for the creative professional employee exemption, all of the following tests must be met:

• You must be compensated on a salary or fee basis (as defined in the regulations) at a rate not less than $455 per week;

• Your primary duty must be the performance of work requiring invention, imagination, originality or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor.  

Most commonly, this exemption applies to musicians, actors, writers, etc.

If you feel that you have been misclassified as an exempt professional employee and would like to discuss the matter with an attorney, please contact us.