The number of FLSA-related lawsuits in federal courts has spiked dramatically in the past decade. If you're like most employers, your payroll is strewn with misclassified employees — ticking time bombs that could cost you a fortune.
Walmart, Google, Starbucks, T-Mobile … they've all been slapped with millions in damages (in Walmart's case, about a cool half billion) because of overtime violations, whether they were committed in good faith or otherwise.
The No. 1 reason for such violations? Not misreported hours. Not getting sly with the time clock. Rather, it's usually because an employee just did not meet the duties test to be considered an exempt executive.
The long-awaited (and long-feared) changes to federal overtime law were just published — and they promise to have a dramatic effect on the way you pay, classify and manage your employees. Is your organization ready to comply?
In May, the Obama administration announced it will more than double the salary threshold that makes white-collar managers eligible for overtime pay. The Department of Labor's long-awaited rewrite of the overtime rule for salaried administrative, executive and professional employees raises the bar from the current $23,660 to $47,476 per year — starting Dec. 1, 2016.
The DOL estimates the move will make 4.2 million more workers eligible for overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours in a week.
The new rule doesn't change the duties test that defines what constitutes administrative, executive and professional work, but does raise the salary threshold on "highly compensated employees" from $100,000 to $134,004. The final regulation also allows bonuses and incentive payments to count toward up to 10% of the new salary level.
Your executive team will expect you to understand what the DOL rules say, what they mean and how your organization should respond. On October 5, learn how to comply with these all-important overtime rules and restructure your compensation in the most legally safe and financially sound way.
Take these steps to prepare for the new overtime rules:
1. Review current salaries for all exempt employees.
2. Determine which employee salaries you can raise to retain exempt status and which you can't based on your company's labor budget.
3. Analyze how many hours exempt employees now work and what it would cost if their current salary is converted to an hourly figure and they continue to work the same number of hours.
4. Decide whether you will lower the hourly rate when you convert from exempt to hourly status so that total earnings remain the same.
5. Don't forget to consider morale if you plan to slash that hourly rate.
On Wednesday, October 5, join attorney Anniken Davenport for a clear explanation of these rules, plus practical advice on how your organization should respond and prepare right now.
The first 100 people to register will receive our special report, The 2016 Overtime Rules: How to Comply. It breaks down the new regulations into plain English and includes handy exemption 
checklists and tests to help you decipher who is eligible for overtime under the new rules.
When the DOL last tried to revise the FLSA exemption regulations in 2004, overtime lawsuits exploded nationwide. Experts say that trend is likely to continue when the complex new FLSA regulations take effect this summer.
Plus, you'll have the opportunity to ask Anniken your own questions about these complex, confusing new rules. Register now.
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