May 9, 2013
TO: Claudia Hazelhurst
FROM: Laura Conant
RE: FLSA exemption status of VCB Services Coordinator
Background
The VCB Services Coordinator position is currently an hourly non-exempt job. The last time the FLSA status was reviewed was in 2001 and the position at that time did not meet the requirements of the Administrative Exemption Test. At that time the decision was influenced by a court case involving the El Paso Convention and Visitors Bureau where the Department of Labor concluded that a similar position did not have the required level of discretion and independent judgment. The recommendation in 2001 was to keep the position non-exempt but to re-evaluate as the position continued to grow in responsibility. The department has requested a review of the job now to determine if it could be classified as exempt which would give the incumbent greater flexibility in scheduling.
Administrative Exemption Test
To qualify for the Administrative Employee Exemption the following tests must be met:
• The employee must be compensated on a salary or fee basis at a rate not less than $455 per week;
• The employee’s primary duty must be the performance of office or non-manual work directed related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer’s customers; and
• The employee’s primary duty includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance.
The position earns $775 per week based on a 40 hour work week meeting the first requirement.
The primary duty of the position is to work as a member of the sales team to promote the use of local businesses to groups that are coming, or are considering coming to Grand Junction. The higher level duties include meeting with clients and vendors, coordinating events, tours, and site inspections, representing the VCB at events and trade shows, and making presentations to potential meeting groups.
The following are some key functional areas of responsibility that meet the FLSA’s definition of “directly related to management or general business operations” that are included in this job: advertising, marketing, public relations, budgeting and quality control (related to events). The work could be viewed as related to the business operations of the VCB’s customers as well in that the services and products provided by the position are designed to enhance the experience of the meeting or conference attendees and therefore increase attendance numbers or generate initial and repeat business. The promotion of local businesses is also directly related to the mission of the VCB which is funded by taxes those businesses pay for the services the VCB provides in bringing in business to the area and to their enterprise. It is my opinion that the position meets the second test.
The third test regarding discretion and independent judgment is the area that caused concern in the past. I located a more recent opinion letter from the Department of Labor issued in 2009 regarding the FLSA status of a Convention and Visitor Sales Manager employed by a city agency. This opinion letter concluded that the employee would qualify as an exempt Administrative Employee. Following are the key factors applied the by the DOL in this opinion letter compared to the VCB Services Coordinator:
• “The employee operates under only minimal supervision, researches and selects potential clients, designs and creates promotional material and prepares and present bids for meeting and conferences to potential clients”. According to the VCB Manager, the position meets constantly with potential clients on their own without other sales staff present. The job description includes designing newsletters, welcome packets and other promotional materials. The position has represented the VCB in coordinating agreements and has been the lead coordinator in the past with large events.
• “The employee also determines what amenities the city will offer to a group and the level of staffing the city will provide to assist a group”. The VCB Manager states that the position works with the group in the planning process making recommendations for meeting space, activities, restaurants, volunteer help, designing marketing material for the group to send out to potential attendees or for their websites to promote attendance.
The type of decisions the VCB Services Coordinator makes include what Grand Junction amenities to show potential clients or where to take them when they visit the community. These decisions influence whether a group will decide to come here and therefore, could be considered “matters of significance”. In addition, I feel the fact that the incumbent travels out of town to represent the VCB at conventions, meetings or events demonstrates that the incumbent is exercising independent discretion and judgment.
The opinion letter states “although the employee is required to perform clerical and support duties for the convention and visitors services director as needed, this non-exempt work does not appear to be the employee’s primary duty”. I think the same could be said of the VCB Services Coordinator in that the job does not exist to provide administrative support and is not part of the administrative support job family but has a unique role in the group sales process.
Recommendation
Based on the growth in responsibilities of the VCB Services Coordinator, the more recent opinion letter issued by the DOL for a similar position, and my own application of the Administrative Exemption tests to our position I am recommending the position be reclassified as FLSA exempt. The change can be made effective pay period #11, May 12, 2013. There is no budget impact of the change other than some potential savings to overtime.
I will want to confirm the understanding of exempt status with both the incumbent and the VCB Manager and ECVS Director. As an exempt employee, the incumbent must be allowed the flexibility and autonomy to plan her schedule in the best way to accomplish the work that needs to be completed.