U.S. Department of Labor
FLSA Overtime Security Advisor
Professional Employees
The highly compensated learned professional exemption requires that the employee customarily and regularly perform one or more duties or responsibilities requiring advanced knowledge in a field of science or learning. Work requiring advanced knowledge is defined as work that is predominantly intellectual in character that includes work requiring the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment. In general, exercising discretion and judgment involves comparing and evaluating possible courses of action and acting or making a decision after the various possibilities have been considered. Thus, an exempt learned professional employee who performs work requiring advanced knowledge generally uses the advanced knowledge to analyze, interpret or make deductions from varying facts or circumstances.
Does the employee customarily and regularly perform one or more duties or responsibilities that are predominantly intellectual in character that require the employee to consistently exercise discretion and judgment in applying his or her advanced knowledge?
