Working Time

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I am getting deluged with inquiries from clients, some very agitated, about what they should do, or can do, vis-à-vis their non-exempt work forces and how these folks can be properly paid, but at the same time remain compliant with the Fair Labor Standards Act. As a basic premise, employees must receive at least the…

The Corona Virus scare is causing employers to lay people off and reduce their hours. For non-exempt, hourly people this is fairly easy, from a legal perspective, because if non-exempt people do not work, they do not get paid. The case is tougher for exempt workers. The FLSA requires employers to pay exempt employees at…

What gets a lot of employers into trouble is the failure to keep accurate records. Or worse, the actual falsification of records or knowingly keeping and maintaining inaccurate records. Nothing will cause the DOL to come down harder on an employer and for the courts to back up the agency. A recent example of this…

The USDOL is busy again issuing Opinion Letters and has again turned its focus to the issue of inclusion/exclusion of bonuses into the regular rate for purposes of overtime computation.  These Letters are not binding on courts but they operate to evidence the agency’s position on whatever issue is being addressed so they are extremely…

I have long been a fan of the fluctuating work week (FWW) method of paying overtime to non-exempt salaried employees.  This computation yields a half-time calculation, i.e. a lower calculation than dividing the salary by forty and then calculating time and one half of that number.  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has recently held that this…

Many industries and businesses are seasonal and I have been often approached with a client question to the effect of whether the client can change the exempt status of workers, depending on the season.  This occurs, for example, in the case of an employee who is the Head Coach of an athletic team for a…

I like how the USDOL is moving along with proposals and plans that assist employers in running their businesses, compensating their employees fairly, and, importantly, not running afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  The agency has now proposed a rule that would allow employers to use the so-called “fluctuating workweek” formula for overtime…

There has been a lot of talk about how much more pro-business the U.S. Department of Labor was going to be under this Administration.  Well, appearances can be deceiving, as a report has just come out indicating that the agency collected in excess of $322 million last year for workers who did not receive proper…

I have defended many claims and lawsuits involving working time, especially travel time.  Employees are continually seeking innovative ways to convert their otherwise non-compensable home-to-work travel into compensable work hours.  These efforts often fail, as illustrated by a recent case where Chicago police officers sought pay for transporting and storing their guns and then retrieving…