Question: If we require employees to arrive ten minutes early to prepare for work, do we have to pay them for this extra time? Answer: Yes. Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (and likely state law as well), you must pay employees for all hours...
Question: We have an hourly employee who will be working at two different locations and under two titles, 25 hours at one location and 25 hours at the other. Will he need to be paid overtime? Answer: Yes. Titles, job duties, and locations are irrelevant—focus only on...
Question: Is there a limit to how many hours I can assign to a part-time employee? Answer: There’s no specific limit to the number of hours you can assign to a part-time employee, as it’s up to you to decide how many hours employees need to work...
Question: Do we have to give employees who smoke additional smoke breaks or allow them to return to work smelling strongly of smoke? We’ve received complaints from both other employees and customers. Answer: No, you’re not required to provide additional breaks to employees who smoke, and...
Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), intermittent leave is leave taken in multiple blocks of time, each less than the employee’s full FMLA entitlement, for the same ongoing reason. Examples of intermittent leave include an employee taking a day each week for ongoing cancer treatments or...
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides covered employees job-protected, unpaid leave for family or medical related reasons, such as to care for a sick family member or the birth or adoption of a child. Private sector employers that have 50 or more employees...
In our previous Tuesday post, we discussed the problems with unplanned overtime and its ability to wreak havoc on your company’s labor budget. We also outlined the solution to this common issue: automating your timekeeping processes. Explore five ways that automated timekeeping can prevent unplanned...
“Every problem is a gift – without problems, we would not grow.” -Tony Robbins, author, coach, speaker, and philanthropist Identifying and solving business problems is an essential aspect of running a company. Every business has its own problems, but one shared concern among company owners across all...
Following are three examples of FLSA Overtime violations. Penalties can be severe. The Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) is very aggressive about enforcing FLSA Overtime rules. The WHD answers 900,000 calls from employees asking if their rights were violated each year. “Hey Pam,...
Question: Can we use comp time with our employees? Answer: It depends. For nonexempt employees of a private employer, no. The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) doesn’t permit private employers to offer compensatory time (“comp time”) in lieu of overtime pay. You could offer time off to your exempt employees as...