The "Professional Exemption"

To be covered under the "professional exemption", the employee must be paid a salary of at least $455.00 per week and his/her primary duty is the performance of work requiring knowledge of an advanced type in a field of science or learning customarily acquired by a prolonged course of intellectual instruction (usually a four year college degree) or be employed in a recognized field requiring invention, imagination or originality in an artistic or creative endeavor. 29 C.F.R. § 541.300-2. Examples of employees covered under the professional exemption include those employees who are traditionally considered to be engaged in "professions", such as lawyers, doctors, accountants (but not bookkeepers), architects, pharmacists, registered nurses (but not Licensed Practical Nurses), physicians assistants, teachers, engineers, chefs (but not cooks), etc. Musicians, artists, sculptors, writers, actors, etc. may also fall under the professional exemption.