In addition to employees who perform basic business operations, nearly all businesses have clerical office workers, and many have outside salespersons. These activities, referred to as "Standard Exceptions," are a deviation from the one-business, one-classification rule. Since clerical office work and outside sales activities are commonly performed and carry a relatively low risk of injury, most businesses are permitted to use these "Standard Exception" classifications for the workers who conduct exclusively clerical or outside sales work.
Classification 8810, Clerical Office Employees, is applicable to workers who are engaged 100% in clerical activities with no additional duties. It is not permissible to divide a worker's payroll between Classification 8810 and any other classification.
Example – Assignable to 8810
An automobile repair facility employs a bookkeeper to maintain financial records. This employee processes invoices exclusively in the repair facility's back office. In this instance, the bookkeeper must be assigned to Classification 8810.
Example – Not Assignable to 8810
An automobile repair facility employs a bookkeeper to maintain financial records. This employee works primarily in the repair facility's back office, but occasionally must enter the garage to retrieve paperwork and status reports on specific jobs. In this instance, the bookkeeper cannot be assigned to Classification 8810 because this employee must occasionally enter the garage and is exposed to hazards outside those of a strictly clerical office worker.
Some industry classifications specifically include "Clerical Office Employees" in their description or phraseology. Typically, this is due to the difficulty in distinguishing between clerical and non-clerical activities for these classifications. The pure premium rates for these classifications are calculated including all of the clerical office payroll and loss data associated with these industries. When an industry classification specifically includes clerical office employees, it is not permissible to separately assign clerical office employees to Classification 8810, Clerical Office Employees, even when the clerical office employees work at a separate location.
Classification 8871, Clerical Telecommuter Employees, applies to employees who work more than 50% of their time at their home or other office space away from any location of their employer and devote the balance of their time to clerical office or drafting duties at any of their employer’s locations in areas that are separated from all other work places of the employer by buildings, floors, partitions, railings or counters and within which no work is performed other than clerical office or drafting duties.
Classification 8742, Salespersons – outside, applies to employees who spend 100% of their work time in the field, calling on customers, and performing activities to promote their employer's business. It also applies to employees who act as outside salespersons on a part-time basis provided they perform strictly clerical work when working at their employer's location. For this reason, Classification 8742 is usually not applicable to regional or zone managers, supervisors, and similar employees who may work in a non-clerical area while at one of their employer's facilities.
In this webinar, you will learn about the classification requirements for Clerical Office Employees, Outside Salespersons, Clerical Telecommuter Employees, and the application of the standard exception classifications.
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