Neither. Generally, Residence Hall Assistants (or “dormitory counselors”) are not considered employees for FLSA purposes, as long as they are students and receive reduced room and board charges. A court action (Marshall v. Regis Educational Corporation, 666 F.2d 1324 (10th Cir. 1981) specifically held that student residence hall advisors were not employees covered by the FLSA because, taking into account the totality of the circumstances, the students were primarily receiving personal educational benefits from their service. Moreover, the DOL Field Operations Handbook states that if a college student (who is in a bona fide educational program) serves as residence hall assistant and receives remuneration in the form of reduced room or board charges, payment of cell phone expenses, tuition credits and the like, that student is not an employee within the meaning of the FLSA.

See DOL Field Operations Handbook 10b 24

Yes. But an employee may not perform volunteer activities that are the same or similar to the activities the employee is employed to perform.

Under the FLSA, in the vast majority of circumstances, individuals can volunteer services to public sector employers. When Congress amended the FLSA in 1985, it made clear that people are allowed to volunteer their services to public agencies and their community with but one exception – public sector employers may not allow their employees to volunteer, without compensation, additional time to do the same work for which they are employed. There is no prohibition on anyone employed in the private sector from volunteering in any capacity or line of work in the public sector.

See DOL Guidance on Volunteers and on Public Sector Volunteers

It depends. If the employee’s primary duty is teaching, he or she qualifies for the teachers’ exemption.

Coaches fall under the teacher exemption when their primary duty is teaching. In the white paper entitled “Payment of Coaches and Athletic Trainers under Federal Law,” CUPA-HR’s attorney maintains that head coaches are generally exempt because they usually have a primary duty of teaching. Regarding assistant coaches, an employee’s primary duty must be based on all the facts in a particular case, with the major emphasis on the character of the employee’s job as a whole. In DOL’s Fact Sheet #17s, DOL states:

“Athletic coaches employed by higher education institutions may qualify for the teacher exemption. After all, teaching may include instructing student-athletes in how to perform their sport. But a coach will not qualify for the exemption if his or her primary dutiesare recruiting students to play sports or visiting high schools and athletic camps to conduct student interviews. The amount of time the coach spends instructing student-athletes in a team sport is relevant, but not the exclusive factor, in determining the coach’s exempt status.”

It depends. Preschool teachers and other daycare center employees who are employed by a UW System institution are FLSA exempt if their primary duty is teaching. In its Field Operations Handbook DOL states that preschool employees “engaged in the intellectual activities of teaching, tutoring, instructing, or lecturing in order to impart knowledge” meet the primary duty test for exemption as teachers. But “employees whose primary duty is to provide custodial care for children” do not qualify for the teacher exemption.

Generally, yes. As long as the camp counselors do not also perform other duties for their employer while they are working as counselors, they are exempt from FLSA minimum wage and overtime requirements because summer camps are recreational establishments that do not operate more than seven months in a year. DOL’s Fact Sheet #18 provides a summary of the FLSA exemption for employees of camps or recreational establishments.

The following table lists the probable FLSA status of individuals with student assistant job codes:

No.

Yes. Nonexempt C-basis academic staff will continue to receive payment on legal holidays even though they do not work on those days.

No, even if the employee’s primary duties are considered exempt under the FLSA guidelines the student help appointment will remain non-exempt.

Yes, per UWSS any employee who is on the bi-weekly payroll will remain on that even if they are transferring to a job that is generally on the monthly payroll (ex: Teaching Assistants, Lecturers, etc.). Please keep in mind the conversion for annual and academic employees:

1. Annual salary / 2080 = hourly rate for annual (12 month) employees
2. Academic salary / 1560 = hourly rate for academic (9 month) employees

No, all employees on the bi-weekly payroll will remain on that going forward.

No. Pay for part-time appointments will not be pro-rated under the new regulations. An employee with a .5 FTE appointment, to a position that would pay $60,000 (over the threshold) for 1.0 FTE, is paid $30,000. $30,000 is below the anticipated minimum salary threshold, and the employee will be nonexempt and paid on the bi-weekly payroll period.