Opinion ID: 660190
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Statutory Framework: the Long and Short Tests.

Text: 67 The district court also held that the reporters were not exempt as professional employees under Sec. 13(a)(1). We believe the district court was correct. Section 13(a)(1) of the FLSA provides that minimum wage and hours requirements of the FLSA do not apply to any employee employed in a bona fide ... professional capacity. 29 U.S.C. Sec. 13(a)(1). The Department of Labor (DOL) regulations outline three types of professionals: learned, artistic, and teachers. If newspaper reporters are professionals at all, they must come within the scope of the definition for artistic professionals. 15 68 The DOL has issued regulations that provide a framework for applying the exemption for artistic professionals. These regulations outline both long and short tests for artistic professional status. See 29 C.F.R. Sec. 541.3(a)-(e) (long test); 29 C.F.R. Secs. 541.3(e) and 541.315 (short test). The long test applies to employees salaried below $250 per week. It has many requirements, set forth in Sec. 541.3(a) through (e), the most important being 1) that the primary duty of the employee be work that is original and creative in character in a recognized field of artistic endeavor and 2) the result of which depends primarily on the invention, imagination or talent of the employee. 29 C.F.R. Sec. 541.3(a)(2). The short test applies to employees salaried at more than $250. 16 This is a simpler and more inclusive test which requires only that the employee's primary duty consist of work requiring invention, imagination, or talent in a recognized field of artistic endeavor. 29 C.F.R. Sec. 541.3(e). The short test does not require work that is original and creative in character. While the tests are not all that different, it seems clear that any employee who is not a professional under the short test will not be one under the long test. 69 The district court did not distinguish between the Gateway reporters who made more than $250 per week and those who made less than $250 and, as a result, improperly applied the long test to five Gateway reporters who made more then $250 per week. We do not think that this mistake requires us to reverse the district court, however. Because we believe that none of the Gateway reporters would be considered professionals even under the short test, we affirm the district court's ruling on the Gateway reporters--both with respect to those that made more than $250 per week and those that made less. 70