Not a Priority

by Charity and Allegra

[A multiple friend transferred from an exempt position to a nonexempt position at the company where she works.]

Glad for you.

The whole exempt / nonexempt thing has been a huge issue for us. In the old days, there was a sort of caste system in which NEs were seen and treated as an underclass. This was before the Internet, even before computers were common. There were a lot of secretaries, and we were treated like children.

HR doesn't re-evaluate a job description unless the employee's manager (or further up the department chain) authorizes a review. One in a chain of VPs to head our department told us circa 2005, "[your job description] isn't a priority."

So even though our responsibilities grew exponentially, it took us 25 years before we were reclassified as exempt. This was thanks to a really smart, committed exec assistant who helped us work with HR to reword our job description so that HR would act in our favor. We have been exempt since December 2013 and will never go back to NE, no matter how much OT we may work.

Trauma takes many forms.

Anyway, we don't want to rain on your parade. We're sincerely happy for you and applaud you for doing what's right for you.