The Supreme Court recently clarified that an employer seeking to prove an exemption from overtime requirements under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) must meet the “preponderance of the evidence” standard, and not the higher “clear and convincing” standard.
On January 15, 2025, the Court issued a unanimous opinion in E.M.D. Sales, Inc. v. Carrera, — S. Ct. —, 2025 U.S. LEXIS 364 (2025), holding that “the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard applies when an employer seeks to show that an employee is exempt from the minimum-wage and overtime-pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act.”
In E.M.D. Sales, a group of sales representatives sued their employer, E.M.D., an international food products distributor, alleging that E.M.D. violated FLSA by failing to pay them overtime. E.M.D. argued that the employees fell within FLSA’s outside-salesman exemption. Following a bench trial, the U.S. District Court of the District Maryland applied the “clear and convincing” standard in finding for the employees. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court reversed, noting that FLSA “does not specify a standard of proof for the Act’s exemptions” and “[s]tatutory silence is generally ‘inconsistent with the view that Congress intended to require a special, heightened standard of proof.’”
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR EMPLOYERS?
This Court’s decision is a win for employers, as it clarifies that lower courts must evaluate their overtime exemption claims and should do so with a lower standard of scrutiny. Even so, it is never guaranteed that an exemption will be granted. Accordingly, employers should regularly monitor their written job descriptions and actual day-to-day responsibilities of their exempt employees to ensure consistency with FLSA’s enumerated exemptions.
