Durham, NC (PRWEB) September 16, 2014 -- Imagine you’re the CEO of a certain organization and have heard about Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), however, you never took it weightily. Like a lot of other employers, you had considered the act to be a law which deals with prohibiting child labor and paying overtime wages to employees who worked on hourly basis. However, one day you get the notice that you’re charged with an FLSA case by one of his employees.
This is just an example of a lot of situations happening since past few years, as the plaintiff’s attorneys have found out nuanced ways to file suit against employers around the country under FLSA and such cases have skyrocketed. Overtime collective actions involving hundreds of thousands of employees have been filed quite often. These actions attract the attorneys of the plaintiff as mostly the employees are eligible, it is difficult to dismiss the cases before trial and employers are somehow still behind in addressing the issues for which the lawsuits have happened.
Some of the common mistakes that employers tend to commit are**:
1. Improper Classification of Exempt Employees: It is a very wrong assumption on the part of the employer that if the employee is salaried, he/she need not be paid overtime. Professionals, executives and administrative employees can all be exempted under FLSA; however, salary is only one element under the exemption. If an employee’s status of exemption from overtime pay is to be ascertained, it is important to clearly check the facts regarding the employee’s job position and legal requirements.
2. No payment of Pre and Post Shift Activities: Various preparatory and conclusive works by the employee count in the hours worked and the employer, in turn, unknowingly violates the law. Employers must keep a detailed note of the rules of pre and post shift activities and accordingly provide compensation to their employees.
3. Violating the rules of Break Time: Though employees are not required to be specifically paid for lunch or meal breaks for 30 minutes or more, those breaks should not involve any kind of active or inactive work. Plus, if an employer grants rest periods then shorter breaks (coffee or rest breaks) must be counted in time worked.
4. Pay per the Clock: If the difference between the time clock and hours paid to the employee is considerably wide, the attorney will challenge the accuracy of the employer’s records. Express rules need to be set by the employer concerning clocking in and out and it should be conveyed clearly and surely to the employees and supervisors that no one should work off the clock. Also, employers may inform their employees that any discrepancy in pay between hours worked and pay may be reported directly to the employers.
5. Preventive Action is Necessary: It is necessary that employers do a careful wage and hour practice audit as a first step to avoid the mistakes of FLSA. If employment policies need to be altered, proper language has to be crafted in order to anticipate potential claims of FLSA and guard the law violations. Proper planning will easily prevent costly litigation for years.
Now that there is clarity on mistakes that employers generally tend to make, it is also important to know how to classify exempt employees under FLSA and how to pay them as well. Renowned Payroll expert Vicki M. Lambert, CPP who is the President and Academic Director of The Payroll Advisor will be discussing the four classifications of exempt employees in her audio conference, ‘Exempt Employees: Identifying and Paying Under FLSA” on Thursday, the 18th of September, 2014. Vicki is going to discuss the salary level tests and salary basis tests to explain employers how to pay their employees. Also, she will explain how deductions are to be properly made from exempt employer’s salary.
The conference would be talking about:
- What exactly is exempt?
- Categories of exempt employees under FLSA
- Who are executives, administrators and professionals per job duties assigned?
- Who is considered as outside sales?
- What is salary basis?
- When can you and when can’t you dock exempt employees pay?
- What’s the state’s stand on exempt?
- How is exemption of high compensation applied?
AudioSolutionz is country’s best source of business enhancing information which specializes in pithy and trending HR & Payroll topics which are currently important in the industry. With the help of an array of renowned experts in its panel, AudioSolutionz helps refresh the professional knowledge on various laws and updates on topics such as HR & payroll, hiring and firing, evaluation of performance etc. Enhance the skills to manage employees in a better way!
For more information, visit: http://www.audiosolutionz.com/hr-compliance-employment.html
We are providing a discount of 10% on the conferences and webinars. To avail your discount, use coupon code SAVE10, applicable on all purchases. For further queries, contact us at: Shivane Kay (1-800-223-8720) or e-mail at [email protected]
Sources:
*. http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/fair-warning-10-common-mistakes-to-avoi-20204/
**. http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/flsa/screen75.asp
Shivane K, AudioSolutionz LLC, http://www.audiosolutionz.com, +1 (800) 223-8720, [email protected]
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