I’ve seen some very lengthy discussions about whether tech writers should be full time exempt employees, full time non-exempt employees, contractors, or other types of workers. I’ve made some comments in those discussions but let me try to summarize my position here.
The issue is primarily a US-only issue. Other countries have different governing laws concerning employment. For the US, I don’t believe there should be any particular default designation. Given much of the US employs “at will”, it’s really between the hiring company and the worker how they want to arrange it.
That said, there are issues in larger companies where labor classification is strictly enforced. I’ve seen several large companies change their classifications recently for many engineering/development employees below the level of “senior” to full-time, hourly in order to avoid legal issues with overtime.
I think the basic issue is based on the type of work performed. If you perform a rather rote role, then you can argue the role as non-exempt. But, if you perform a more creative or thought-intense role, you can argue exempt status because the company is paying you for creation of ideas and robust product, not just to perform a task. That is, they’re keeping you on at a steady rate of pay (a lump annual sum paid in regular installments) for your brain, not just your skills.
Sure, this can be argued as well, but I think that’s the easiest way I can explain it. As a technical writer, I’d love to have overtime pay. But as a senior (or higher) technical writer I would hope my contribution transcends beyond building help files and manuals. At a higher level role, I expect to be contributing directly to how the company gets work done, how it positions itself to the market, and how it strives toward its vision. There is no hourly breakdown for those things.
So keep it between the company and the worker. It has nothing to do with the clout of the profession, but of the impact to the organization as a whole. Are you building product, or are you building the organization? There’s a big difference there.
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