Working in concert with outside counsel, Resolution Economics LLC conducts time studies, operations analyses, and policies, practices, and procedures reviews to assist employers in assessing their exposure to claims of exempt status misclassification under FLSA and California/State law. Also, we work with employers and counsel in designing job descriptions, organizational structures, performance evaluation systems, and reward systems that form the basis of an employer’s expectation that a given job is classified appropriately as an exempt position. Finally, we work with counsel and employers to create audit and monitoring systems to insure the job remains appropriately classified as operational changes are implemented over time.

Time Studies

Resolution Economics designs and conducts surveys, observation studies, and focus groups to identify what tasks exempt workers perform and to make determinations regarding how exempt employees actually allocate their time among the various tasks they perform.

Operations, Polices, Practices, and Procedures Review
Resolution Economics designs and conducts surveys, observation studies, and focus groups to assist employers and counsel in evaluating what policies, employment practices, and operating procedures are in place, and the impact that these polices, practices, and procedures have upon how exempt workers perform their jobs.

• Analyses of the exempt workers’ primary duty in the context of the operations of the business unit.
• Analyses of the size and scope of management responsibilities, the frequency that exempt workers exercise discretion and independent judgment, and the significance of the decisions made by exempt workers.
• Analyses of labor budgeting, scheduling practices, and the allocation of duties between exempt and non-exempt workers in the business unit.

Job Design and Expectations Modeling

Resolution Economics conducts observation studies, surveys, focus groups, and statistical analysis to assist employers in examining their organizational structure, performance evaluation systems, and compensation / reward structures in order to design jobs that meet the exemption criteria. Our job design services focus on creating a model of employer expectations for exempt employees. These services may include:

• Analyzing the relationships between performance reviews and how exempt workers spend allocate their time among the various duties they perform.
• Analyzing the business unit’s operating performance to identify “best practices” in time allocation, management decision making, and employee scheduling.
• Analyzing the employer’s compensation and rewards structure to insure that economic incentives are aligned with performing the job in an exempt manner.
• When necessary, revising the business unit’s labor model and/or redesigning the jobs in question to insure that employees are classified appropriately.

Ongoing Monitoring

Resolution Economics follows-up our employment practice audits with ongoing monitoring. Our monitoring services include:

• Assisting employers and counsel in designing and conducting online or paper based surveys to track whether exempt workers remain appropriately classified.
• Identifying workers who are not meeting the employer’s expectations for performing their job in an exempt manner.
• Analyzing actual or proposed changes in policies, practices, procedures, and organizational structures to evaluate the impact of the changes on exempt workers.
• Assisting in the performance review process by insuring evaluators are considering the employers expectations for the position.
• Analyzing incentive compensation to determine if rewards systems are aligned with working in an exempt capacity.

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