The Pandemic brought about different working scenarios than many companies have experienced in the past, and along with these changes come the responsibility of making sure labor laws are still being followed by your employees. This isn’t as easy when they are working from home, but it’s imperative to remind employees to follow your workplace rules and labor laws whether in your physical location or offsite.
One federal regulation to monitor is the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) which specifies minimum wage and overtime requirements. Keep in mind many states have more stringent laws, so make sure you are following the one most beneficial to your workers.
One of the main FSLA violations is the misclassification of workers as exempt from overtime, when in fact they are subject to overtime rules. Just because someone is paid a salary does not mean you don’t track (or pay) overtime when worked.
To be exempt from overtime, the workers must fall into specific exemptions and meet the salary and duties tests. Employees must be paid at least $684.00 per week to meet the minimum salary requirement. And their daily tasks must fall under one of three exemptions: executive, administrative or outside sales.
Executives include managers who direct at least two workers and supervise the operations of the company. Administrative employees generally perform office work and exercise discretion on major business matters. Outside sales personnel must spend the majority of their workday away from the office making sales calls.
Another issue to monitor is off the clock work. This is when an employee performs tasks prior to clocking in or after punching out for the day. This can happen in businesses where prep is required prior to being on the sales floor, or cleaning equipment after the shift has ended. Or maybe an employee who just wants to check e-mail to see if there is anything important, but their scheduled work hours were finished earlier. If an employee is required to do any work before or after the typical shift, be sure to schedule this as on-the-clock time and compensate your employees correctly. Be sure to remind remote workers to only do tasks during the time they are clocked in.
Meal and rest periods are another area of compliance than can sometimes be overlooked. Again, make sure you are following the most stringent requirements in your location. Although federal law does not mandate these breaks, many states have very specific guidelines to follow. When required, rest breaks are paid, however, meals breaks are generally not compensable unless the employee is not fully relieved of their duties.
Be sure to see what legislation has recently taken effect in your state to remain up to date with new regulations. There have been a lot of changes, and more are expected in upcoming months on the state and federal level. If you are unsure how laws apply to your business, be sure to reach out to a Human Resources advisor or attorney to protect you and your workers.
