An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 6 – Wage And Hour Laws

The DOL defines the phrase “work requiring advanced knowledge” as work which is predominantly intellectual in character and which requires the consistent exercise of discretion and judgment. Employees who primarily perform routine mental, manual, mechanical or physical work do not qualify for the professional exemption. Professional employees must not only have advanced knowledge, they generally must need to use the advanced knowledge to analyze, interpret or make deductions from varying facts or circumstances. The DOL regulations specifically state that this advanced knowledge cannot be attained at the high school level. 547 b. Artistic Professional To qualify for the creative professional exemption, an employee's primary duty must be the performance of work requiring invention, imagination, originality or talent in a recognized field of artistic or creative endeavor as opposed to routine mental, manual, mechanical or physical work. The exemption does not apply to employees whose primary work can be produced by a person with only general manual or intellectual ability and training. 548 Examples of creative employees include actors, musicians, composers and painters. c. Teachers California Wage Order Number 4 defines teaching as “the profession of teaching under a certificate from the Commission for Teacher Preparation and Licensing or teaching in an accredited college or university.” Since many private schools do not require their teachers to have a certificate from the Commission for Teacher Preparation and Licensing, this definition excludes many private school teachers and, therefore, they could not qualify for the professional exemption. However, Labor Code section 515.8 was enacted to create an exemption for teachers at a private school in which students are enrolled in any grade between kindergarten and 12 th grade. Teachers at such schools will be exempt if they:  Are primarily engaged in the duty of imparting knowledge to pupils by teaching, instructing, or lecturing; and  Customarily and regularly exercise discretion and independent judgment in performing the duties of a teacher; and

 Have earned a baccalaureate or higher degree from an accredited institution or possess a California Teacher’s Credential, or the equivalent in another state; and  Satisfy the following salary test. 549

In order to be exempt, a full-time private school teacher must earn the greater of either: 1. No less than 100% of the lowest salary offered by any school district to a person who is in a position that requires the person to have a valid California teaching credential and is not employed in that position pursuant to an emergency permit, intern permit, or waiver; or 2. The equivalent of no less than 70% of the lowest schedule salary offered by the school district or county office of education in which the private elementary or secondary academic institution is located to a person who is in a position that requires

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