Question

What do ADA and FLSA have to do with job analysis?

         ADA: Essential job functions vs Marginal job functions

        FLSA: exempt employees vs non-exempt employees

***needed as essay answer***

Answer 1

ADA: The Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires covered employers to supply reasonable accommodation to qualified employees with disabilities, unless doing so would cause undue hardship for the employer. The ADA obligates an employer to reasonably accommodate a worker with reference to a job's essential functions, which are the essential
job duties and requirements that an employee must be ready to perform. Nonessential functions needn't be accommodated; consequently a frequent issue in ADA litigation concerns whether a function was essential.
Evidence that a function is important includes an employer's written description prepared before advertising or interviewing applicants for the work , and a court may give the employer's description substantial weight. for instance , in Richardson v. Friendly frozen dessert Corp., the court relied heavily on the work description in holding that a number of manual tasks were essential functions for a restaurant assistant manager,who couldn't perform those tasks even with reasonable accommodation. Just as employment description can constitute compelling evidence within the employer's favor, an inaccurate or incomplete description can undermine an employer's defense. Courts have held that a function won't be essential when it's not included within the job
description. In Turner v. Hershey Chocolate USA, the court analyzed whether rotating among assembly lines to scale back the danger of repetitive stress injury was an important function of a chocolate inspector's job.

FLSA: The Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act and its state counterpart, the Washington wage
Act, provide that employees who work 40 or more hours during a workweek must be paid
overtime at a rate of one-and-one-half times their regular rate of pay. While the FLSA
provides broad coverage for employers of all sizes, the statute carves out exemptions
for certain categories of workers, like executives and certain other white-collar
employees.
Thorough, accurate job descriptions can support an employer's proper analysis of
whether an exemption is acceptable for a specific position. Job descriptions also may
contribute significantly to defending against a claim that an employee was improperly
classified as exempt.

Significance of ADA and FLSA in job analysis
ADA classifies job functions into two categories, Essential job functions which are all basic, recurring job duties and responsibilities and Marginal job functions which are duties that are only supplementary or supportive to the job.ADA is certainly helpful in analysing the amount of time required to perform the task, The task’s frequency and The task’s significance, compared to other tasks.For instance, a task that is performed more often than others on a job obviously carries more weight and is deemed more essential than those other tasks. Similarly, a task that is performed on a continuous or daily basis is more essential than another task carried out on a monthly or occasional basis, or a task that is only a support function rather than a core function of the job.Careful job analysis and job design can yield accurate and fair HRM processes by helping HR managers and other managers differentiate essential from marginal job functions. This differentiation can become the basis for subsequent selection, compensation, performance evaluation, and training decisions.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)should also be considered in job analysis and job design. FLSA distinguishes between exempt and nonexempt employees based on the nature of their work. For instance, FLSA states that in order to be exempt from overtime pay, an employee’s primary duties must be geared towards executive and administrative tasks rather than manual or routine activities. Thus, job analysis and job design have a direct bearing on employees’ proper classification and compensation.Thorough, accurate job descriptions can support an employer's proper analysis of whether an exemption is acceptable for a specific position. Job descriptions also may
contribute significantly to defending against a claim that an employee was improperly classified as exempt.

Essential vs Marginal job functions

Essential Job Functions
Whether a particular function, task or job duty is "essential" is a factual determination that the EEOC says must be made on a case-by-case basis. "Essential functions" are those functions that the individual who holds the position must be able to perform unaided or with the assistance of reasonable accommodation. The EEOC says that any inquiry into whether a particular function is "essential" initially focuses on whether the employer actually requires current or prior employees in the position to perform those functions.

Marginal Job Functions
“Marginal” is an unfortunate choice of words in that even marginal functions or tasks under the ADA are important to us. For these purposes, marginal just means those functions that are not essential.A marginal function is not unessential to the work unit, only to a given job. The function has to be accomplished, but it can be done by another employee or position.

A function may be “marginal” when:

• The character of the job (scope of the responsibility, type of work, major duties) would remain the same if the duty were not performed.
• The function occupies a small percentage of time.
• Failure to perform the function may have minor consequences.
• The nature of the duty is such that another University employee could perform the work with minimal to moderate disruption or inconvenience.

Three factors to consider when evaluating a function as essential or marginal:

1. Relationship of the functions to other tasks within the job.
2. How reassigning the functions will affect other employees and their jobs.
3. Significance of the function and the conditions under which it is performed.

Exempt vs Non-Exempt Employees
There are two basic types of employees in the workplace – “exempt employees” and “non-exempt employees.” What’s the difference between these types of workers and the jobs they hold? The most significant difference is pay for overtime work. The term “exempt” means exempt from being paid overtime.

Exempt Employees
Certain sorts of employees, often classified as exempt employees, aren't entitled to overtime pay as guaranteed by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). to feature thereto , most states have their own wage and hourly-rate laws that have even more requirements additionally to the FLSA.

The FLSA requires that employers pay a minimum of wage for up to 40 hours during a workweek and overtime buy any overtime unless the worker falls into an exception category.If an employee is taken into account exempt (vs. non-exempt), their employer isn't required to pay them overtime pay. it's at the employer’s discretion whether or to not buy hours worked overtime. Some employers might create an employee benefits package with extra perks in lieu of overtime pay. generally , to be considered an “exempt” employee, you want to be paid by salary (not hourly) and must perform executive, administrative, or professional duties.

Non-Exempt Employees
A non-exempt employee is entitled to overtime pay through the Fair Labor Standards Act. Also, some states have expanded overtime pay guidelines. ask your state department of labor website for rules in your location.

Employers are required to pay time and a half the employee’s regular rate of pay once they work quite 40 hours during a given pay week.Most employees must be paid a minimum of the federal wage ($7.25 in 2020) for normal time and a minimum of time and a half for any hours worked over the quality 40.

Wheither an employee is Exempt or Non-Exempt
Employees whose jobs are governed by the FLSA are either "exempt" or "nonexempt." Nonexempt employees are entitled to overtime pay. Exempt employees are not. Most employees covered by the FLSA are nonexempt. Some are not.

Some jobs are classified as exempt by definition. For example, "outside sales" employees are exempt ("inside sales" employeesare nonexempt). For most employees, however, whether they are exempt or nonexempt depends on
(a) how much they are paid,
(b) how they are paid, and
(c) what kind of work they do.

With few exceptions, to be exempt an employee must
(a) be paid at least $23,600 per year ($455 per week), and
(b) be paid on a salary basis, and also
(c) perform exempt job duties.

These requirements are outlined in the FLSA Regulations (promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor). Most employees must meet all three "tests" to be exempt.