With the overtime exemption still somewhat in a state of flux in some circles, it is even more important that business accurately categorize and compensate their managerial employees. A quick look at a recent federal court decision against Steak & Shake in Missouri should drive the point home. A class action suit involving 286 managers who had been classified as exempt was decided in favor of the class with a $6 million award to the managers and another $1.6 million for attorney fees. In the case, which was first filed in 2014, the court ruled that for the managers, who collectively worked an average of 50 hours per week to be exempt, they need to be performing managerial tasks as their primary duty – meaning hiring & firing, coaching & counseling, conducting performance reviews, scheduling and directing the work of others. The court determined that the managers in the class were regularly performing production and service duties, functions that did not lend itself to managerial exemption status.