Are you familiar with all of the laws and regulations governing how you pay your employees? Do you really know the difference between “Exempt” vs Nonexempt?” Or, how to determine which employees are exempt? If the answer to one or more of these questions is no, you’re not alone. The DOL estimates that less than 36% of employers in targeted industries are in compliance with federal wage and hour laws…and that doesn’t even begin to look at the web of state wage and hour laws.
So here are a few more things to think about…
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Overtime must be calculated on the employee’s “regular rate” which includes more than just the employee’s hourly wage
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Employers cannot offer or provide “Comp Time” as a substitute for the payment of overtime wages
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Even a minor work-related interruption to an employee’s meal break may cause the entire break to be compensable time…which could cause a full-time employee to be due overtime in that workweek
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Employers are responsible for paying employees for all work time – even if the employee fails to record and report some or all of their time worked
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Under certain circumstances employee’s must be paid for travel time, even on a weekend
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Payroll wage deductions are no longer permissible for items such as employee purchases of uniforms, work shoes, specialized tools of the trade, or for repayment of loans, or recapture of wage overpayments, even with the employee’s written consent
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Exempt employees must be paid a minimum of $543.75 per week in addition to meeting specific duties requirements
The federal DOL has added 250 new wage and hour investigators, which represents a full one-third increase in the WHD workforce. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis had rededicated her department to the goal of “enforcing the federal law to the fullest extent possible” where wage and hour law violations are concerned. What do those facts mean to employers like you; employers who believe they are following the laws and complying with the regulations? It means - What You Don’t Know Really Can Hurt You!
Don't miss this important workshop - September 23, 2010, 8:30 – 11:00 a.m.