United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1999-09-30 monographic deposited born digital 58 p. GA 1.13:HEHS-99-164 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-99-164 P0b002ee18037e70b f:he99164 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-HEHS-99-164 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-HEHS-99-164 HEHS-99-164 Labor law Industrial relations Wage surveys Overtime compensation Labor statistics Personnel classification Census Bureau Current Population Survey Letter Report HEHS Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO provided information on employer compliance with the white-collar exemptions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), focusing on: (1) how many employees are covered by the white-collar exemptions and how the demographic characteristics of these employees have changed in recent years; (2) how the statutory and regulatory requirements have changed since the enactment of FLSA; (3) the major concerns of employers regarding the white-collar exemptions; (4) the major concerns of employees regarding the white-collar exemptions; and (5) the possible solutions to the issues of concern raised by employers and employees.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) in 1998, between 20 and 27 percent of the full-time U.S. workforce--or 19 to 26 million workers--were executive, administrative, or professional employees covered by white-collar exemptions of the FLSA; (2) in recent years the percentage of employees covered by these exemptions has been increasing; (3) the number of employees working in certain service industries nearly doubled between 1983 and 1998, and there is a higher percentage of white-collar employees in the service sector than in other sectors of the economy; (4) overall, the workforce covered by the exemptions also became increasingly female--the proportion of women increased from 33 percent in 1983 to 42 percent in 1998; (5) in the 16 years following the 1938 enactment of the FLSA, the Department of Labor (DOL) established the key regulatory tests defining whether an employee can be classified as an exempt white-collar worker; (6) these tests included the salary basis test--the requirement that exempt white-collar workers be paid a salary, not an hourly wage--as well as the various salary-level and duties tests; (7) since 1954, major statutory and regulatory changes to the white-collar exemptions have been few, and primarily limited to increases in the salary-test levels and to changes to coverage of specific types of employees; (8) employers worried about potential liability for violations of the salary-basis test; (9) employers also believed that the regulations limiting the exemptions to white-collar nonproduction employees did not take into account the effect of modern technology on employment; (10) employers complained that the parts of regulatory duties tests that call for independent judgment and discretion on the part of administrators and professionals led to confusing and inconsistent results in classifications of similarly situated employees; (11) employee representatives believed that inflation has severely eroded the salary-level limitations originally envisioned by the DOL regulations; (12) the representatives contended that the duties test for executive employees has been oversimplified, leading to inadequate protection of low-income supervisory employees; (13) although various proposals have been advanced to address the concerns raised in this report, the conflicting interests of employers and employees have made resolution difficult; and (14) to resolve these issues, the desire of employers for clear and unambiguous regulatory standards must be balanced with that of employees for fair and equitable treatment in the work place. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-99-164/html/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-99-164.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-99-164/pdf/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-99-164.pdf GAO/HEHS-99-164 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-99-164 Letter Report GAO/HEHS-99-164; Fair Labor Standards Act: White-Collar Exemptions in the; Labor law Industrial relations Wage surveys Overtime compensation Labor statistics Personnel classification Census Bureau Current Population Survey Public Law 92-318 Public Law 101-8250 Public Law 104-188 Title 29 Part 541 29 CFR Part 541