© 2024 Seyfarth Shaw LLP | www.seyfarth.com Classification Guidebook | 19 Updating Job Descriptions A job description can serve various goals, such as: (i) delineating tasks that should be performed as part of the primary duty that justifies the job’s exempt status; (ii) identifying the essential job functions that an employee must be physically and mentally able to perform (with or without a reasonable accommodation); (iii) establishing expectations by which performance will be evaluated and by which an applicant’s fitness will be determined; and (iv) confirming prerequisite education, skills, and experience. The following list of job description best practices have been designed with all of the above in mind: DO state the primary purpose or key function of the position near the top of the job description. This primary purpose or function will be the one by which exempt status will be determined. While it need not be a function performed the majority of the time, it needs to be the most important or key function of the position. If, for example, the position is that of a manager over a particular department or subdivision, the primary purpose may be to manage the operations of and personnel within that department. DO list the specific duties and tasks that an employee in the position is expected to perform in fulfilling their primary purpose or key function. DO organize the list of specific duties and tasks that an employee is expected to perform in order of priority or importance with the most important duty or task listed first and the least important listed last. DO ensure that either (i) the list of duties is limited to those that are essential to fulfilling the key function of the position, or (ii) there is a separate section of “essential” job duties that the employer expects all employees in the position to be mentally and physically able to perform with or without reasonable accommodation. The list of essential job functions is critical to a determination of whether an employee or applicant with a disability can be reasonably accommodated in the position absent undue hardship. Essential functions include those tasks that are fundamental to the job while non-essential functions are marginal tasks that can be distributed to others. In identifying the essential functions, focus on the time spent, frequency, importance of the function, consequences of failing to perform the function, and the availability of others to perform the task. Non-essential or “other” functions that are still important can be listed in a separate section of the job description. DO focus on specific duties and tasks rather than broad concepts or generalized responsibilities. By way of example only, it would be better to describe a task as “advise client on which default and custom rules to include in timekeeping system,” rather than “provide timely and reliable advice to clients” or “apply critical thinking and problem-solving skills to help develop solutions for clients.”
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