The slow death of the 9-5 workday, together with the arrival of the new FLSA overtime rules, which do into effect on December 1, could create one of the bigger wage-and-hour pitfalls for employers in 2017 and beyond.
How was your Fourth of July weekend?
Did you knock your 5-year-old off of her scooter in the middle of Main Street to the shocked and judging, “Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhs….” of spectators on both sides of the street with smartphones up capturing all of the parade action for posterity?
***checks YouTube again***
Well, neither did I.
On December 1, 2016, the new Department of Labor overtime rules will take effect. Yesterday, Senate labor committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committee chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) announced (here) new legislation under the Congressional Review Act to to stop the overtime rules dead in their tracks.
You ever see that scene in Minions where the caveman tries to stop a bear with a flyswatter?
Keep preparing for the new overtime rules.
Last night, the U.S. Department of Labor published its final rule updating the Fair Labor Standards Act overtime regulations. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, if you dabble in human resources, you’ve heard a thing or two about these changes, which the White House has touted as automatically extending overtime pay protections to over 4 million workers within the first year.
What are the changes and how will they impact your workplace?
The U.S. Department of Labor announced on Monday that “a human resources outsource provider will pay $1 million in back overtime wages and damages combined to hundreds of employees after a U.S. Department of Labor investigation that found widespread Fair Labor Standards Act violations.”
So what did a human resources provider do wrong?
I know when the new Department of Labor overtime rules are going to take effect.
Well, I think I know…
On February 9, over 100 members of Congress signed this letter to Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez to voice their opposition to the new proposed overtime rules, which could go into effect in July. I only have an electronic version of the letter. But, it looks like it was signed in high-quality ink, and printed on really nice bonded letterhead. Except, you know that “not worth the paper it’s printed on” expression…
Like many other employers, you’ve got a handbook policy that says that non-exempt employees cannot work overtime unless they obtain prior approval from a manager or supervisor. If, without prior approval from a manager or supervisor, a non-exempt employee works overtime and reports those hours to you, the Fair Labor Standards Act requires that you pay that employee overtime. (However, you can discipline that employee for violating your work rules).
But what happens if that same employee works overtime without prior permission and fails to report those hours. Must you still pay that employee overtime?
You know, being a client of the Blogger King has its perks. (That’s me. I’m the Blogger King). When I’m not litigating and counseling on employment-related issues, I’m taking blog post requests and emailing weekly updates of HR goodies that don’t make it onto the blog.
But, with my DropBox and Pocket chock full of recent cases, I’ll summarize the recent biggies.
The Employer Handbook Blog