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What is a "Bona Fide Administrative Employee" Under Overtime Law?

Many people think of "administrative" employees as including roles like secretary or other general office administrative work.  The FLSA definition is a little different, and requires that:

• The employee’s primary duty must be the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer.
• The employee’s primary duty includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance.

An exempt administrative employee supports the operations of the business as opposed to producing or generating what the business sells.

It is important to remember that the employee must also have the right to exercise independent judgment on “matters of significance" in order to be considered exempt.  This means the exempt staff are usually higher level staff in roles like human resources, payroll or finance, accounting, marketing and public relations, and compliance. 


Learn more here about overtime exemptions under Massachusetts and federal law.

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