(1) The term "individual employed in a bona fide … administrative … capacity" in RCW 49.46.010 (3)(c) shall mean any employee:

(a) Whose primary duty is the performance of office or nonmanual work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer's customers;

(b) Whose primary duty includes the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance; and

(c) Who is compensated on a salary or fee basis at a rate of not less than the amount specified in WAC 296-128-545, exclusive of board, lodging, or other facilities.

(2) The term "individual employed in a bona fide … administrative … capacity" in RCW 49.46.010 (3)(c) shall also include any employee:

(a) Whose primary duty is performing administrative functions directly related to academic instruction or training in an educational establishment or department or subdivision thereof; and

(b) Who is compensated on a salary or fee basis at a rate of not less than the amount specified in WAC 296-128-545, exclusive of board, lodging, or other facilities, or on a salary basis which is at least equal to the entrance salary for teachers in the educational establishment by which they are employed.

(3) For the purposes of this section:

(a) To qualify for the administrative exemption, an employee's primary duty must be the performance of work directly related to the management or general business operations of the employer or the employer's customers. "Directly related to management or general business operations" means work directly related to assisting with the running or servicing of the business, as distinguished, for example, from working on a manufacturing production line or selling a product in a retail or service establishment.

(b) "Discretion and independent judgment" means the comparison and the evaluation of possible courses of conduct, and acting or making a decision after the various possibilities have been considered. The phrase "discretion and independent judgment" must be applied in the light of all the facts involved in the particular employment situation in which the question arises. The exercise of discretion and independent judgment implies that the employee has the authority to make an independent choice, free from immediate direction or supervision. However, employees can exercise discretion and independent judgment even if their decisions or recommendations are reviewed at a higher level. The exercise of discretion and independent judgment must be more than the use of skill in applying well-established techniques, procedures or specific standards described in manuals or other sources. The exercise of discretion and independent judgment also does not include clerical or secretarial work, recording or tabulating data, or performing other mechanical, repetitive, recurrent or routine work.

(c) "Performing administrative functions directly related to academic instruction or training" means work related to the academic operations and functions in a school rather than to administration along the lines of general business operations. Such academic administrative functions include operations directly in the field of education. Jobs relating to areas outside the educational field are not within the definition of academic administration.