Getting overtime pay calculation wrong can be damaging for the employer

A thorough grasp of the subtleties of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) continues to elude many employers, even though this Act has been around for a long time. The frequent changes that keep happening to the many regulations of the FLSA from time to time are one of the major reasons for this. These changes have employers, employees and attorneys scrambling for the meaning, interpretation and application of the new regulations, resulting in a huge load of extremely expensive FLSA lawsuits under this legislation.

Most of these legal disputes arise because attorneys make impermissible deductions from wages. They don’t count all the hours an employee has worked in determining overtime due, or they get their calculations plain wrong.  An idea of the magnitude of the effects of this misunderstanding of the provisions of the FLSA by employers can be had from the fact that The Department of Labor (DoL), which is already operating on a budget of $311 billion; requested an additional $104.5 billion for its 2015 budget for discretionary and mandatory programs. All these point to a new vigor and zest in this department in cracking down on false calculations and other improprieties.

Learn the nuances of overtime pay

In order to clear the misunderstandings anyone may have about the various elements of this law; GlobalCompliancePanel, a well-known provider of professional trainings for the areas of regulatory compliance, will be organizing a two-day seminar. Susan Fahey Desmond, a principal with Jackson Lewis PC, who has been representing management in all areas of labor and employment law for over 30 years, will be the Director of this seminar. To enroll for this highly valuable learning session, please log on to http://www.globalcompliancepanel.com/control/globalseminars/~product_id=900679SEMINAR?calculating-overtime-correctly-SFO-CA.

At this seminar, Susan will go through all of the nuances of the FLSA and will cover the most frequent mistakes employers make repeatedly. She will explain the employer/employee relationship under the FLSA in detail, and will offer a description of areas such as the exemptions and what time is compensable. Another important learning of this seminar is about ways by which employers can decrease their overtime liability.

Susan will cover the following areas at this seminar:

o   Understanding the employer/employee relationship under the FLSA

o   Analysis of independent contractor v. employee

o   Volunteers and trainees

o   Exemptions - managerial, administrative, professional, outside sales, specific industry exemptions, the Motor Carrier Act

o   What is Working Time with discussion of the Portal to Portal Act

o   New Requirements for Breastfeeding Mothers

o   Calculating Overtime Correctly - determining the workweek and calculations.

o   Using approved ways to reduce overtime liability - fluctuating workweek, Belo Plans, Union Employee Plans, compensatory time

o   Minimum Wage Requirements and handling of deductions like garnishments, employee theft, company equipment, etc.

o   Child Labor laws - when they can work, what they can do, what breaks are required

o   Recordkeeping Requirements 

The interconnectedness between human resources and project management

Although a superficial look may suggest nothing in common between HR and project management; upon scratching the surface a bit, one discovers a close relationship between the two. Project management and HR are very closely related to each other, if one considers the similarity in the approach to the two disciplines:

Project management is rooted in planning. A detailed, systematic, team-involved plan is at the core of successful project implementation. Therefore, the project leader who plans well succeeds in executing the project and taking it a notch higher. 

The ability to plan precisely is of equal importance for HR, because much of what progresses in the organization hinges on HR’s planning ability. When HR plans and implements properly and effectively, that is a sure prescription for the organization’s success and growth. Like project managers, HR is also expected to transform a vague concept into a measurable outcome by channeling a broad array of knowledge, skills, and resources toward a critical organizational goal.

A learning session on the link between HR and project management

A proper understanding of this link between HR and project planning is the learning that a two-day, in person seminar being organized by GlobalCompliancePanel, a leading provider of professional trainings for the areas of regulatory compliance, will be imparting.

The speaker at this session, Cathleen Hampton, a professional consultant with over 25 years of HR experience, will talk about strategic and effective management and implementation of programs and ways in which HR professionals can facilitate both of these in their organizations. To gain learning of the crucial link between HR and project management, just log on to

http://www.globalcompliancepanel.com/control/globalseminars/~product_id=900725.

Understanding the similarities

Over two days of learning, Cathleen will expose participants to the basic principles concerning the nuts and bolts of planning, scheduling, and budgeting. These will be the outcomes of this learning:

o   Strengthening of skills and understanding how to generate valuable benefits for the organization by achieving crucial results that align with organizational objectives

o   Knowledge of the communication skills it takes to get ideas, instructions, and requests across quickly and accurately, thereby minimizing development time

o   Effectively using resources to stay on top of deadlines and expenses

o   How to rebound quickly from surprises and setbacks

o   How to get the best from people who don't normally report to them

o   These are the objectives of this seminar:

o   Learning the imperative questions to ask before even beginning

o   How to use the planning and scheduling tools that professional project managers use, such as GANTT charts, the critical path method, work breakdown structures, project management software, and others

o   Best practices for team work

o   Understanding when and how the “Murphy factor” could hit the project and impact it in a big way.

Handle internal investigations thoroughly, else employees could approach law agencies

Employees have a right to approach external sources such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Wage and Hour, private attorneys, and juries against the employers, when feel that their legitimate complaints are not being heard by their employers.

But first, a clear definition has to be made of what constitutes legitimate complaints and a distinction has to be made between legitimate and unsubstantiated complaints. This is because employers are legally empowered and obliged to carry out certain kinds of investigation, namely the kind done on what the law considers as a legitimate employee complaint, and not others. It is thus important for employers to have a thorough understanding of what type of complaint is considered by the law as legitimate and what is not.

Follow the procedures to be safe at investigations

This distinction determines whether the employee will go to any of the external agencies mentioned above to complain against the employer or not. Further, quick and sound action that is legally compliant will also help juries or other agencies decide whether or not the employers took quick and appropriate action to address legitimate employee complaints. Following the right procedures will help to protect the organization against such complaints, if the juridical sources find that the employer took the right action on time to redress the employee’s legitimate complaint.

HR has to be quick and has to think on its feet if it is to avoid giving the employee the opportunity to approach an external agency, the fallout of which can be potentially damaging. In order to help HR professionals understand the way by which to carry out a legally tenable and fair investigation of the complaints; GlobalCompliancePanel, a leading global provider of professional trainings in all areas of regulatory compliance, will organize a two-day seminar.

To enroll for this seminar, please log on to

http://www.globalcompliancepanel.com/control/globalseminars/~product_id=900677SEMINAR?conducting-internal-investigations-San-Diego-CA.

Susan Fahey Desmond, a principal with Jackson Lewis PC and noted author and speaker, will be the Director of this seminar.  Susan will offer a thorough understanding of how to classify a complaint by the employee as a legitimate one. Lack of this knowledge on the part of the organization’s HR will result in having to battle it out in court.