Tuesday, June 5th, 2007...10:06 am
Unequal Treatment of Professionals under the AWHA
By state statute, an employer must pay a salary to an exempt administrator, executive, or professional that is at least 2 times the state minimum wage, or $14.30/hour ($29,744/year, at 2080 hours/year). AS 23.10. 055(b). But by regulation, the salary for an exempt administrative or executive must be at least 2.5 times the minimum wage, or $17.875/hr. ($37,180/year). 8 AAC 15.910(a)(1) and (7). The regulation governing exempt professional employees, however, does not similarly bump up the statutory minimum wage.
What rationale supports a lower base salary for a professional than for an executive or an administrator?
Update: Similarly, professional is the only AWHA exemption that it not lost when the amount of non-exempt work exceeds 20 (or 40) % of the workweek. So, an employer may pay a professional less, and demand more hourly work than other exempt employees, without losing the exemption.
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