Q: I’m a salaried employee at a nonprofit, I love my job and think I’m paid fairly. Sometimes the job requires working more than 40 hours, which I understand. But lately “sometimes” has become “all the time”. We’re all burning out. Leadership tries to be understanding but they also make comments like “exempt employees are expected to stay until the job is done.” That’s demoralizing- like a justification for not bringing in more resources (temps) to balance the workload. Is there a limit to this concept that exempt employees must do the job, receive no overtime, and just “take it”?

A: Technically speaking, legally there is no limit to how many hours can be expected from a salaried employee. I suppose you can say that the law assumes that salaried employees are professionals, and as such have more autonomy, agency and choices than their hourly counterparts who are protected from overwork by requiring employers to pay overtime.

So, legally there is no limit to the concept that salaried employees should work until it gets done. But in the real world there is a limit, and that limit is whatever salaried people are willing to accept and endure. The limit is what becomes acceptable in a given industry, what the economy and job market will bear. For example, in the convenience store industry, “managers” were routinely overworked and this was an accepted practice mainly because jobs were scarce and workers had few choices . But as the economy improves, and people have more options, there has been more pushback.

Another example is when the economy experiences lots of layoffs, the survivors are required to work longer hours and they’re afraid to complain. But now with low unemployment, workers have more choices and those overworked salaried employees won’t stick around for long.

In your case, it sounds like you and your colleagues should let your voices be heard. Management bases their decisions on how they think you’re tolerating the extra work. If they hear no one voicing concern, they’ll be less likely to get you extra help. You know the saying, “The squeaky wheel gets the oil”, I suggest you and your colleagues “squeak”. Always politely, always constructively, but squeak you must.

©Copyright Eva Del Rio

Eva Del Rio is creator of HR Box™ – tools for small businesses and startups. Send questions to Eva@evadelrio.com