Employers typically aim to pay their employees on an hourly basis. However, some employers don't respect the hours that their employees work. The Wage and Hour Division notes that under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), once employees work 40 hours in one week, each hour after that is required to be paid at one and a half times the regular rate of pay. There are exceptions to the rule, however.
Many accountants know that employers can save money through exemptions for after-hours work. Misclassifying employees in order to pay them lower wages can lead to expensive lawsuits, so employers and their accountants should do their best to ensure they don't fall prey to this temptation. Here, we look at some of the most significant pitfalls employers typically face when meeting the regulations outlined in the FLSA.
Unless exempt under an FLSA exception, employees must be paid for all the time they spend working. But what qualifies as time spent working? In most situations, any time the employee spends between clocking in and out is considered "payable time at work."
But what if an employee is not at work? If an employee decides to check their email or log in to work from home, should this count as “payable time at work”? Different states handle after-hours work in different ways. Most states have a minimum limit of time that must be reached before the time can be counted as “payable time at work.” For example, if an employee logs into his email from home while...
By Dean Aubrey Caratiquet As part of an intensified campaign against the spread of falsehoods that continue to undermine the integrity of the government and pose a threat to national security, PCO...