Caryn Pass will speak on "Independent Contractors, Employee Classifications and Exemptions" at the National Business Officers Association Webinar on December 12, 2007. Both federal and state labor departments are closely monitoring the classification of employees as overtime eligible and non-overtime eligible. While schools have notoriously ignored these distinctions, the departments of labor are "encouraging" us to pay closer attention to these matters. One method they are using is via audits and investigations. The exposure for failing to comply with the law is the payment of overtime for all hours worked over 40 in a workweek for a two-year period. Sadly for us, the department of labor will defer to our employees when establishing how many hours were in fact worked.