euphemistic use of "exempt"

[Baker, John]

More generally, under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, executive, administrative, professional and outside sales employees are exempted from the Act's minimum wage and overtime pay protection standards.  These personnel are usually referred to as "exempt employees," while personnel who are protected by those standards are "non-exempt employees."  So, for example, if my employer asks me, a professional employee, to work late (which happens approximately daily, except that I don't get asked, it just happens), I do not get paid time and a half, or for that matter anything, for the extra hours.  If I ask my secretary, a non-exempt employee, to work late with me, she will be paid time and a half.

I don't think this has anything to do with the Vikings' announcement.  They seem to be using the term as Jon suggests.


John Baker



-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Geoff Nathan
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 9:04 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: euphemistic use of "exempt"

In some other unionized context (such as universities) 'exempt' means 'not a member of the union', and therefore not subject to restrictions on hiring and firing ('exempt' employees are usually 'at-will', and can be fired without cause). Also they can be subjected to more stringent employment restrictions, but can also supervise others. 

Geoff 

Geoffrey S. Nathan 
Faculty Liaison, C&IT 
and Professor, Linguistics Program 
http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/ 
+1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT) 

Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send it to anyone in an email, no matter how authentic the email looks. 

----- Original Message -----

> From: "Dan Goncharoff" <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 8:51:36 AM
> Subject: Re: euphemistic use of "exempt"

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: euphemistic use of "exempt"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> I'm no employment expert, but I believe this use of 'exempt' is
> consistant
> with the normal use of the word in employment contexts. The most
> common
> example is the overtime exemption -- if you are exempt, you can still
> work
> the hours, but you can't get paid for it. The exemption refers to the
> application of the law. In Peterson's case, it is the normal
> provisions of
> the agreement with the players union.
> On Sep 17, 2014 7:25 AM, "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:

> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: euphemistic use of "exempt"
> >
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > The Vikings have announced that for now Adrian Peterson is
> > "exempt...from
> > all team activities"
> >
> > That means he's banned or disqualified.
> >
> > But it makes it sound like a break for him, doesn't it?
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> > truth."
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> >

> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org