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| Governmental Regulations |
| New FLSA Overtime Regulations Go Into Effect |
The recent release of the new FLSA “overtime” regulations will affect the classification and overtime eligibility of millions of employees. Employers need to do several things to bring themselves up to speed with the new laws, make their businesses compliant, and avoid expensive lawsuits down the road:
- Become familiar with the new regulations. Visit the Department of Labor’s online video seminar at http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/main.htm. Under the new FairPay rules, workers who earn less than $455 per week (an annual salary of $23,660) are guaranteed overtime protection. The law is designed to strengthen overtime rights, and analysts estimate that over 1.3 million workers who were denied overtime pay under the old rules are now eligible.
- Perform an audit to assure that your company is in compliance with the new rules. One of the important purposes for this audit is to discover any “misclassifications.” Some suggestions include:
- Reviewing job descriptions to be certain that they are accurate, reflect the jobs that are performed, and accurately reflect the skills needed to perform the job.
- Review employees’ actual job duties to make sure those you previously identified as “exempt” still fall within the exemptions outlined in the new law
- Check to see that you have posters hung in appropriate places within the workplace.
- Pay any past overtime due to employees that you previously misclassified (this is less expensive than settling a lawsuit).
For more information, visit the Department of Labor’s website, or check with one of our Human Resources experts.
Sources: Department of Labor: http://www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/whd/fairpay/main.htm
Prince, Susan E. “Final Overtime Regs Unveiled: What They Mean for Employers”
Business and Legal Reports whitepaper. http://hr.blr.com/Article.cfm/Nav/4.0.0.0.29647#7
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