How Do I Determine if I Am an Exempt or Non-Exempt Employee

[FeelingLikeADoorMat]

My question involves employment and labor law for the state of: Florida

I work in a veterinary clinic in Broward county. We generally work 37.5 to 45. hours or more weekly. Our pay is calculated by the hour, but our paychecks do not reflect the hours worked, other than the fluctuation in actual pay. The checks have all of us listed as salary. We are not paid overtime for hours worked in excess of 40. We are not allowed the 15 minute breaks that we believe we are entitled to, or an actual lunch period. We are allowed to consume a lunch, if the work load allows and are expected to continue working without regard to having had a break or not.

Recently, two of us were served with jury duty. Our employer states that compensation for jury duty is to be taken from our vacation pay. A senior co-worker confirmed this as she had been served with jury duty many years ago, was chosen and lost her wages for the time she served as a juror. Another co-worker is expected to serve in the month of September, but is not looking forward to losing wages as well. As it stands, we are not completely certain that we are being treated legally. Please direct me as I am not sure how to determine my/ our status and how it may affect what we are entitled to.

[cbg]

It is your job duties that determine if you are exempt or non-exempt. However, please note the following:

1.) Neither exempt nor non-exempt employees are entitled to breaks of any kind under either Federal or Florida law. In fact, there is NO state, with one extremely limited industry specific exception in Illinois, where the adult employees of private employers are entitled to two 15 minute breaks. A very small handful of states - I think it was 6 the last time I checked - require a 10 minute break for every four hours worked, and 2 more require "adequate" time to use the rest room. Approximately half the states require meal breaks. Florida is among those that does not. Federal law does not. (Federal law says that IF breaks are offered, breaks of less than 20 minutes or so must be paid breaks.)

2.) Although Florida law does require that you be allowed to take time for jury duty (most if not all states do), nothing in Florida law requires that it be paid time. (Again, only a very small handful of states requires that you be paid for jury duty time.) An exempt employee EITHER must be paid for the entire week (unless they are out for the entire week) OR they cannot be considered exempt FOR THAT WEEK ONLY. Non-exempt employees never have a legal expectation of being paid when they do not work, with rare exceptions that do not apply here. Although a VERY few states (smallest subset yet) do not allow the employer to require vacation time be taken for jury duty, once more Florida is not among those states. I think it's really, really petty of your employer to require vacation time to be used for jury duty, but it's not a violation of any law.

Since you have provided no information about your job duties, I can't say if you are exempt or non-exempt, or even form an opinion. If you are exempt, then you never have any legal expectation of receiving a single penny over and above your regular salary, regardless of how many or how few hours you work. There are, however, only very limited situations under which your pay can be docked. If you are a non-exempt employee, on the other hand, you have no legal expectations of being paid when you do not work, again with extremely limited exceptions, few if any of which apply in Florida.

Florida, in its infinite wisdom , closed its department of labor a few years ago. If you believe, based on the information above, that you are being paid incorrectly, your options are the US DOL or a civil suit. However, based on what you've said, any claim you may have (and I'm not saying you do or don't - I can't tell from what you've posted) will be based on the overtime issue, not on the lack of breaks or the use of vacation pay for jury duty, both of which, in your state, are legal.

[FeelingLikeADoorMat]

Thank you for taking time to respond.
Seven of us are considered veterinary technicians or assistants. We care for any patients staying in overnight, administering medications, clean their cages, log observations made and treatments given. We ensure that the facility is clean and well stocked prior to the arrival of clients and patients. When clients arrive, we greet them and escort the to an exam room, weigh and take their temperature if needed. A brief history is taken from the client and logged into the pet's medical record. We then proceed to prepare the exam room by having any instruments ready for the treatment(s) anticipated, such as vaccines drawn up, paperwork prepared for blood draw, or radiology set up for x-rays. (that we will take ourselves for the doctors) We restrain patients for exams and treatments, prepare patients surgically, perform dental cleanings on patients while under anesthesia. We monitor patients while under anesthesia, and recover them post anesthetic. We clean exam rooms, the opereratory, and surgical instruments are sterilized after each use. We serve as pharmacy technicians filling/ refilling medications, advising clients of their proper administration. When the receptionists are overwhelmed with clients we also assist them by answering phones, and assisting clients by answering questions or setting appointments. Following surgeries the hospital is swept and mopped by the technicians. (the receptionists will assist us if we are overly occupied) We empty trash receptacles, and bring all waste and recyclables to the curb. We perform basic maintenance such as the cleaning of the restroom and emptying the kennel sink drain filter. When a receptionist is not readily available the doctors ask us to call clients to report bloodwork results.
There are two women that are considered our receptionists. One elderly women that seems to perform in an administrative capacity, logging our hours, calling in orders for supplies, mailing reminder cards, etc.
Is this the information needed?

[cbg]

That's an excellent description. You got the idea far better than many people do.

The problem is, based on factors I cannot assess from here, I can see it going either way. I lean towards non-exempt but I wouldn't be overly surprised if I were told it was exempt, either.

You may need to contact the DOL to determine your status.

BTW, it was late when I responded last night and I omitted to include that IF you are non-exempt, then any hours over 40 in a work week MUST be paid at time and a half.

[FeelingLikeADoorMat]

Thanks, and thanks again. I'll look for DOL online, also all three judges I had the pleasure of meeting last Tuesday, made clear to all jurors that they would personally speak with our employers if need be. In either case it's a can of worms. The respect I had for my employers has suffered greatly as a result.