[zdragnar]

"In general, to be considered an “exempt” employee, you must be paid a salary (not hourly) and must perform executive, administrative or professional duties."

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/exempt-and-a-non-exempt-em...

To be honest, I'm a little surprised that these employees couldn't be considered administrative or professional without a managerial title.

Edit: reading further, this clarifies a bit: "These categories are purposefully broad to encompass many types of jobs. However, it is the tasks performed on the job, not the job title alone, which determine exempt vs. non-exempt employment status." Essentially, it's not entirely a cop-out by companies to avoid worker protections.