Jane Swift is becoming frustrated with her job as a shift leader at Jones Depart
ID: 358853 • Letter: J
Question
Jane Swift is becoming frustrated with her job as a shift leader at Jones Department Store. She’s worked
there for 6 months, and the full-time job has turned into more than full time. Several associates have left
the store, and as a result, the past several weeks she has worked 45–50 hours each week. She doesn’t mind
working the extra hours; she is just frustrated because she is not getting paid overtime pay.
She asked the store manager, Amy Kostner, about the overtime pay she was due. Amy informed
Jane that shift leaders are part of the management team and are classified as exempt under the Fair Labor
Standards Act. The store is not required to pay exempt workers overtime pay.
Jane agrees that she is part of the management team. As a shift leader, Jane runs the floor when she is
on duty. One of the assistant managers sets the daily schedule of associates each week, but Jane and other
shift leaders assign the associates to various work areas as needed. Depending on store traffic, associates
need to be moved from stocking shelves and cleaning to cashiering or assisting customers. When not working
on such management responsibilities, the shift leaders generally assume the duties of associates by
assisting customers and cashiering. Jane reports that she typically spends only a little more than half of her
time performing associate duties.
Shift leaders are also involved in managerial decisions. For example, they often sit in on employment
interviews and typically are aware of employee terminations before the employee is fired. They also give
feedback about the associates to the assistant managers who write the annual performance appraisals.
Just like a manager, Jane makes a lot of decisions during the course of her shift each day. If there is a
dispute on a sale price, Jane searches the weekly sales flyer to determine the correct price. If a customer
has a return, Jane reviews the transaction and initials it before the cashier can give a refund. However, she
does not have complete autonomy in making decisions. For example, if a return is greater than $50.00, an
assistant manager or the store manager needs to approve the refund.
But even though she agrees that she is part of the management team, Jane isn’t satisfied with Amy’s
answer on her question about pay. If she isn’t eligible for overtime pay, she thinks that she should be paid
more. While she is paid at a higher rate than most of the associates, she is not paid nearly as much as the
assistant managers. A pay increase or overtime pay would at least make it worthwhile for her to put in the
extra hours.
Questions:
2-8. What are some factors that Amy should consider when determining whether shift leaders are
exempt or nonexempt?
Explanation / Answer
Solution:-
)Amy classified shift leaders exempt because they are considered to be a part of the management team and thus are exempt under Fair labour standard Acts. If we consider the attrition rate in Jones department store we see that keeping the shift leaders exempted under Fair labour standards Act is not advantageous.We see that many associates had left the store in the past and this may be one of the reasons due to which the associates were dissatisfied over the pay for the overtime work.
Yes there could be a hidden advantage to Jones department by categorizing shift leaders under exempt. This could be worked out in a way that the work parameters set for shift leaders are not much, like she just to allocate the work to her associates in accordance with the store traffic. There wouldn’t be every day when the store is flooded with customers. She has to initial for refund to the customer, well not every customer asks for refund. So while the shift leader’s job does not demand much out of Jane, she has spare time left which she could use by helping the associates. This could be termed as making optimum utilization of the available resources.
There are chances that why shift leaders are correctly termed under exempt. As explained above, not much work would be shouldered by them if they carry out only what they are designated to do. Whereas every employee of the organization is supposed to stretch himself to prove its performance over other, only then he shall be considered efficient and would be lined up for better perks or promotion as a recognition of his efforts.
Factors like as a shift leader and the work assigned to her, how far her work justifies her role and the money that she is been paid. If the extra work is not done by her and she only performs the tasks as a shift leader, why the company should consider her as an efficient resource and sustain her in the job. Hence she should efficiently delegate the work so that she isn’t overburdened and gets frustrated.
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