16.61 Elements of Defense: Administrative Employee Exemption is a statutory defense that is available under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLEA). This defense allows employers to exempt certain administrative employees from the overtime provisions of the FLEA. To qualify for this exemption, an employee must meet all the following criteria: • Be compensated on a salary basis at not less than $684 per week; • Primarily perform office or non-manual work; • Exercise discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance; • Regularly and customarily perform one or more of the exempt duties of an administrative employee. There are three types of administrative employee exemptions: executive, administrative, and professional. An executive employee exemption applies to employees who primarily manage the enterprise or a department or subdivision of the enterprise and have the authority to hire or fire other employees or have significant input into the hiring, firing, or changing the status of other employees. An administrative employee exemption applies to employees whose primary duty is the performance of office or non-manual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customers and who exercise discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance. A professional employee exemption applies to employees whose primary duty is the performance of work requiring knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction.