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Invoice for hours worked for Legal

if you're a manager or business owner who employs non-exempt workers you know that calculating hours work can be a complicated subject you want to stay tuned for today's discussion where we'll offer some information that can save you fines penalties and headaches when deciding which hours must be counted welcome to HR over coffee a series from the experts at HR 360 where you'll learn how to effectively hire manage and terminate employees first let's quickly review the basics in the United States wages are generally regulated under the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act or FLSA which sets basic minimum wage and overtime standards for workers wages may also be regulated by state law when both the FLSA and a state law apply the law setting the higher standards must be observed under the FLSA non-exempt employees must be paid at least the minimum wage for all hours worked and overtime at a rate of not less than time and a half the employees regular rate of pay for any hours worked beyond 40 in a given workweek employers who fail to pay non-exempt employees for all hours work put themselves at risk of an employee complaint and a formal Department of Labor investigation these investigations are becoming far more common and they often widen its scope from the initial complaint to encompass all similarly situated employees at a given company the fines penalties and legal fees can mount quickly one way to avoid this situation is to understand which work-related activities performed by your employees count it's work time making sure you pay employees properly will go a long way to avoiding violations let's take a look at a few common circumstances outlined by the US Department of Labor and discuss whether and why they qualify as hours worked first there's waiting time in some circumstances waiting time must be paid and is counted toward hours work subject to overtime the distinctions here are fine but important under the FLSA if an employee is waiting to be engaged that is waiting to start work then the wage clock is not yet ticking however if the employee has been engaged to wait the clock is in fact running examples of this would be an executive assistant reading a book while waiting for dictation or a firefighter playing cards waiting for an alarm similarly an employee who is required to remain on-call on the employers premises is working while on-call if the employee can remain on-call at home or leave word where he or she can be reached this time typically will not be counted as hours work however if the employees freedom is constrained by being on-call this time may need to be compensated rest and meal periods can be another area of confusion the FLSA does not require employer's to provide meal periods or rest breaks for non-exempt employees except for break time for nursing mothers however employees that do provide breaks and meal periods must follow certain rules breast breaks must be counted as hours work for purposes of minimum wage and overtime requirements under federal law these breaks include short periods usually 20 minutes or fewer that employees are allowed to spend away from the worksite for any reason for example smoke breaks restroom breaks and breaks to make personal phone calls or to get coffee or soft drinks bonafide meal periods typically at least 30 minutes are generally not considered work time under federal law so long as the employee is completely relieved from duty during that meal period an employee is not completely relieved from duty if he or she is required to perform any duties or do any work active or inactive while eating keep in mind that many states require that employers provide meal periods and rest breaks either paid or unpaid and some even specify a particular time when breaks or meal periods must be given remember that where both the FLSA and state labor law apply the employee is entitled to the most beneficial provisions of each law travel time can be tricky when it comes to counting hours under the FLSA ordinary travel to and from work does not count as hours work however time spent traveling to and returning from a special one-day assignment in another city generally does count as hours worked - any time the employee would normally spend commuting to the regular work site travel that's a regular part of an employee's job such as going to different job sites is also considered compensable work time travel that keeps an employee away from home overnight may also count as hours worked with special rules limiting how much time can be counted outside of regular working hours the bottom line is you need to carefully monitor all the time your employees are engaged in work-related activities failing to stay on top of this could leave you vulnerable for more information visit the official US Department of Labor website where you'll find comprehensive information on the FLSA and guidance on how to comply and be sure to check with your State Labor Department as well for additional requirements that may apply for more information on this topic and to learn about our subscription options to our HR compliance library with over 500 downloadable forms and policies and video training on topics like wage and work our issues go to HR 360 comm and click on the products tab you