Being an exempt employee only works if your are well compensated and treated fairly. Where I work at the moment HR and my boss found a loophole and are now requiring that all exempt staff work 8 1/2 hours a day, including a lunch break. Exempt employees can't leave any earlier, even if they work during their lunch. It's all about power and control. This new policy really goes against the flexibility of being exempt. The pay is not great at all so any fringe benefits working here are being taken away one by one. Time to move on.