80 | Massachusetts Wage & Hour Peculiarities, 2025 ed. © 2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP (b) Fields of Science or Learning Pursuant to the federal regulations, the term “field of science or learning” encompasses but is not limited to the following professions: Law Medicine Theology Accounting Actuarial computation Engineering Architecture Teaching Various types of physical, chemical, and biological sciences Pharmacy Other occupations that have a recognized professional status (as distinguished from the mechanical arts or skilled trades, where the knowledge could be of a fairly advanced type but is not in a field of science or learning)454 (c) Customarily Acquired by a Prolonged Course of Specialized Intellectual Instruction The learned professional exemption is restricted to professions for which specialized academic training is a standard prerequisite for entrance into the profession.455 The best evidence that an employee meets this requirement is the possession of the appropriate academic degree.456 However, the word “customarily” means that the exemption is also available to employees in qualifying professions who have substantially the same knowledge level and perform substantially the same work as the degreed employees, but who attained the advanced knowledge through a combination of work experience and intellectual instruction. Thus, the exemption is available to the occasional lawyer who did not go to law school, but who gained essentially the 454 Id. 455 29 C.F.R. § 541.301(d). 456 Id.; Drexler v. TEL NEXX, Inc., 125 F. Supp. 3d 361, 373-374 (D. Mass. 2015) (denying defendant’s motion to dismiss because plaintiff’s advanced degree was in field not relevant to position and position did not require specialized knowledge typically acquired by obtaining advanced degree).
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