Three blondes walk into a building. (You’d think one of them would’ve seen it – LOL!)   But seriously…the first blonde rushes to the timeclock and glances at the U.S. Department of Labor notices on the wall as she punches in.  The second blonde yawns, clutches her laptop briefcase and mumbles about working all night to finish a project.  The third blonde shakes hands with a colleague in the lobby, approaches the receptionist and introduces herself and the gentleman as “the new contractor workers”.  According to Fair Labor Standards Act, what’s the difference between these three employees?

The first blonde is classified as a non-exempt employee.  She is paid at least the federal minimum hourly wage, and only for the hours she works.  Any hours worked over 40 hours per week, will be considered overtime and paid accordingly.

The second blonde is an exempt employee.  She is paid a salary and is exempt from overtime pay.  She can work all night on a project and not be paid anymore than if she worked only 40 that week.

The third blond is an independent contractor.  If she and her male colleague are performing jobs of equal skill, effort, and responsibility and are performed under similar working conditions, she will be paid equal to him unless a merit system, seniority system, a system based on quality or quantity of production, or any factor other than gender justifies a difference in pay.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) governs all these scenarios and much more.  Understanding FLSA is vital to a supervisor or manager because wage and hour issues are critical to the efficient operation of an organization.  FSLA governs:

  • Minimum wage
  • Equal pay
  • Computing hours of work including overtime and rest breaks
  • Recordkeeping
  • Exemptions including Executive, Administrative, Professional, Computer, and “Combination” exemptions.
  • Exemptions for highly compensated employees, outside salespeople, business owners, motor carriers, and commissioned retail sales.
  • Deductions from exempt pay for situations such as absences, offsets, disciplinary suspensions and penalties, and unpaid leave.
  • Definitions of contract employees and part-time employees.
  • Child labor laws.

Although three blondes walked into a building, you can clearly see this is no laughing matter.  FLSA is a federal law that applies to most organizations and most employees are covered.  Understanding these laws and recordkeeping requirements can help you manage the impact of FLSA on your organization.

Join us March 12, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. for UniqueHR’s Webinar:  FLSA.  Kaylee Hawkins, PHR, SHRM-CP, Senior Human Resource Specialist will provide explanation of compliance with the basic requirements of FLSA.  This is training supervisors and managers need!