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Category Archives: Wage and Hour

Answers to some common questions about paying workers plus how to comply with FLSA regulations relating to exemptions, minimum wage, and overtime.

FLSA Compliance: Simple Until You Do It

Wage and Hour | Monday, May 6th, 2013


"Complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), already trickier than expected, is made even harder by misconceptions and myths, says Attorney Ted Boehm."

For example, he says, there’s the misconception that employers may provide “comp time” in lieu of overtime compensation. For most private employers, comp time is not permissible (government employers often may use comp time).

However, employers may control employees’ hours worked to prevent them from working overtime hours. For example, if an employee works late on a Tuesday, and you see that he or she is likely to exceed 40 hours for that week, the employer can give employee a day off during that week.

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Don’t Count Holiday Pay in Regular Rate (and Other FLSA Oddities)

Wage and Hour | Monday, May 6th, 2013


"In yesterday’s Advisor, Attorney Ted Boehm offered tips for handling tricky wage and hour challenges. Today, he provides his take on deduction difficulties, plus an introduction to the wage and hour self-audit guide that help you find violations before the feds do."

Boehm, an associate in the Atlanta office of law firm Fisher & Phillips, LLP, offered his tips at a recent webinar sponsored by BLR® and HR Hero®.

Premium Pay for Holidays and the Regular Rate

Under Section 7(e)(6) of the Family Labor Standards Act (FLSA), premium pay for work by a nonexempt employee on a holiday is not considered part of his or her regular rate of pay for overtime purposes if the premium pay is at least one and one-half times his or her normal hourly rate of pay. For example, if the employer offers double pay for holiday, that premium won’t be included in the regular rate.

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3 FLSA Danger Zones—Off-the-Clock, Travel Time, Independent Contractors

Wage and Hour | Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013


"Yesterday’s Advisor featured highlights from law firm Littler Mendelson’s special report, “Hot Wage and Hour Issues for Home Healthcare Employers.” In today’s issue, more wage/hour tips, plus an introduction to the wage/hour audit guide that lets you find problems before the feds do."

Note: Find the complete Littler Report here.

Compensable Work Outside of Patient Care Duties

Some preshift or postshift activities may be compensable, the Littler Report says, if they are “an integral and indispensable part of the principal activities.”

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Hot Wage/Hour Issues (Littler Report)

Wage and Hour | Monday, April 22nd, 2013


"Every employer can benefit from the practical tips in law firm Littler Mendelson’s special report, “Hot Wage and Hour Issues for Home Healthcare Employers.”"

Note: Find the complete Littler Report here.

Compensable Work Outside of Patient Care Duties

Some preshift or postshift activities may be compensable, the Littler Report says, if they are “an integral and indispensable part of the principal activities.”

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Little-Known Facts About Overtime

Wage and Hour | Thursday, April 4th, 2013


"Yesterday’s Advisor reviewed the challenging rules for calculating the “regular rate” of pay. Today, some more details on several common, but tricky, situations, plus an introduction to the guide that answers all your wage and hour questions."

Here are some little-known facts around overtime. Actually, it’s not so much that they are little known as oft ignored.

Holiday/Sick Pay Not Included

Only hours actually worked count in the overtime calculation. Therefore, holidays not worked, vacation days, sick days, etc., are not counted. The fact that an employee receives holiday pay, vacation pay, or sick pay is of no consequence for overtime purposes. The test is hours worked rather than hours paid.

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Overtime = 1.5 Times the Hourly Rate, Right? Wrong.

Wage and Hour | Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013


"Overtime calculation is simple—1½ times the hourly rate for hours over 40 in a week, right? Wrong. It’s 1½ times the “regular rate,” which is often not the same as the hourly rate. This is one of the most common wage-hour misconceptions—and violations."

The regular rate must include the reasonable cost of meals, lodging, and other facilities provided to the employees, nondiscretionary bonuses, on-call pay, shift differentials, and cash benefit payments from Section 125 Cafeteria Plans and other forms of compensation not specifically excluded from overtime laws by the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

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Exemptions—Easiest Way to Run Afoul of WHD?

Wage and Hour | Monday, January 28th, 2013


"Who cares about exemptions? DOL’s Wage & Hour Division (WHD) does—it’s a current priority—and that means you should too. Today’s Advisor covers the slippery issue of the motor carrier exemption."

For help with this tricky exemption, we turned to BLR’s Wage & Hour Compliance—Practical Solutions for HR. It says that the FLSA provides an overtime exemption for employees who:

• Are employed by a motor carrier or motor private carrier; and
• Perform duties that affect the safe operation of commercial motor vehicles in transportation on public highways in interstate or foreign commerce.

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7 Most Common Misconceptions Around Exemptions

Wage and Hour | Tuesday, January 15th, 2013


"Exemption mistakes can result in enormous liability for employers, yet many employers put surprisingly little thought into their classification decisions. And unfortunately, many employers misunderstand or misapply exemptions even when they are sincerely trying to comply with the law."

To identify the most common exemption myths, we turned to BLR’s Wage & Hour Compliance—Practical Solutions for HR.

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FLSAspeak—‘Management,’ ‘Customarily’ and ‘Particular Weight’

Wage and Hour | Thursday, January 10th, 2013


"Yesterday’s Advisor answered the question of how much nonexempt work an exempt employee may do; today, definitions around
 the executive exemption plus an introduction to the best way to ID exemption problems."

Once again, we turn to BLR/HRHero’s Wage & Hour Self-audit Guide: Practical Solutions for HR for guidance.

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Must Exempts Do Exempt Work “Most” or “All” the Time?

Wage and Hour | Thursday, January 10th, 2013


"With the re-election of president Obama comes the increased likelihood that regulations will be issued that require employers to maintain written justifications for exempt-nonexempt decisions. Here’s some guidance on how much nonexempt work an exempt employee can perform.<"

For help with this tricky issue, we turned to BLR/HRHero’s Wage & Hour Self-audit Guide: Practical Solutions for HR.

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