Photo by flickr user Joe Gratz used under a Creative Commons license.
Does an employee “assist in the running or servicing of the business” if he designs systems for a client rather than for the business itself?
According to a recent ruling from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the answer is “yes,” thereby helping the employee satisfy one of the key requirements for the administrative exemption from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime provisions.
A telecommunications system designer’s work developing custom telecom systems to meet the unique needs of his employer’s clients constituted assistance in the sale of the systems, i.e., in the “servicing of the business.” As such, he met the first requirement for the exemption test, the 3rd Circuit held in Swartz v. Windstream Communications.
The 3rd Circuit’s ruling stands for employers operating in Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the Virgin Islands.