Although the Fair Labor Standards Acts gets numerous updates and amendments, its compliance remains complex and challenging for most employers. It can be easy for a company to violate the policies, especially when its managers do not understand the labor act.
To avoid violations, employers need adequate knowledge to prevent violating the FLSA act.
1. Restrict Access for Non-Exempt Employees to Work Email
When the employee logs in even without the employer asking them to do so, the employer may need to compensate them for the time regardless of where the employee is. To avoid violations, the company needs to set clear rules to the non-exempt employees, ensuring that there are no off-clock account log-ins.
There needs to be a policy from the Los Angeles labor attorney for employees stating that the employee will not be paid for off-clock work unless authorized by the management.
2. Pay Employees for Access to Work Email from Home
The FSLA law requires that the employee gets compensated for every time spent working. When you allow the employee to access work emails from home, you will need to pay them. The time spent by responding and reviewing emails is enough proof that they worked, regardless of the location.
3. Educate Managers on FLSA Policies
If managers do not have an in-depth understanding of the FLSA, they may make mistakes that exhibit labor violations. They are the ones who work closely with the employees, so train them on the non-exempt employees off-the-clock and on-the-clock rules and ensure adherence.
However, in some situations where policy gets violated by the manager, you may require the employment attorney Los Angeles for legal help if your employee files a lawsuit against your company.
4. Let Employees Take Lunch Away from Work
Since every work hour counts, do not allow employees to take lunch from the workplace. If you let them stay during lunch hours, they can answer calls and respond to emails even if they don’t mean to do so. You will need to pay for the time.
However, in situations where you have set policies in place against such, but you still get sued by the employee for non-compensation, you can engage a Los Angeles workplace lawyer to help you.
5. Track Employee Time Arrival at Work
Some employees have set a routine of getting to work early before the expected time by the management. To track this and avoid violations, you may need to get a Los Angeles labor attorney for employees to give you tips on creating reporting mechanisms for your employees.
6. Let the Employee Remain on-the-Clock
Your managers need to closely monitor employees to ensure that they do not exceed the time set to close work. Even if the employee was tasked with the job, ensure they remain on-the-clock. It may be overwhelming for the employer to keep track and may need to seek guidance from a Los Angeles workplace lawyer for the best ways to keep track.
7. Compensate Employee for Overtime
If an employee stays late or works overtime to complete a project with the knowledge of the supervisor, they need to be compensated for the time.
8. Educate Managers
According to FLSA, every time that a non-exempt employee spends at work needs to be compensated. You will need to educate managers to ensure that employees need to be paid for the time they worked.
9. Implement a Written Policy
Eliminate risks by creating a policy with the help of employment attorney Los Angeles. It should clearly define the authorized time for the non-exempt workers and state when the employee guidelines for engaging in any off-the-clock work.
Summary
You are required to pay a non-exempt employee for every time worked, whether on-the-clock or off-the-clock, especially if you have not set policies in place. It is advisable to set guidelines and let both the managers and employees adhere to them.
