Wage & hour compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Acts (FLSA) and related state laws is now more crucial than ever. The Department of Labor (DOL) estimates that 80% of employers are in some degree of non-compliance with FLSA regulations and laws. What most employers fail to realize is that a single employee’s complaint can result in a major collective action lawsuit. Although FLSA compliance is challenging, failure to be in FLSA compliance can lead to expensive wage & hour regulatory fines.
According to the Department of Labor, as detailed on their website, “The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping, and child labor standards affecting full-time and part-time workers in the private sector and in Federal, State, and local governments.”
The DOL’s Wage and Hour Division administers and enforces FLSA compliance with respect to private employment. The FLSA maintains basic standards of employee payroll processing. The HR consultants at Soteria HR make sure client companies remain in compliance with these basic standards.
The goal is to avoid disgruntled employees that may file FLSA claims. Indeed, employees who believe their FLSA rights have been violated can go directly to court and are not required to first submit their complaint to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). More importantly, in recent years, the DOL has significantly increased enforcement efforts related to FLSA compliance. The hiring of additional investigators by the federal government means the targeting of multiple industries. Moreover, these new investigators emphasize the auditing of claimed exemptions and working time issues.
Across the board, the Fair Labor Standards Act regulates the employment of minors. Beyond this focus on protecting minors, FLSA compliance mainly focuses on basic minimum wage and overtime pay standards. Thus, employers need to know what falls under FLSA compliance and what practices are outside of this regulatory context. For example, according to the DOL, a number of employment practices are not regulated by FLSA compliance. For example, the FLSA does not require or regulate
Vacation, holiday, severance, or sick pay;
Meal or rest periods, holidays off, or vacations;
Premium pay for weekend or holiday work;
Pay raises or fringe benefits;
A discharge notice, reason for discharge, or immediate payment of final wages to terminated employees.
The lack of FLSA compliance focus on these issues does not mean that such corners should ever be cut. Indeed, consistent payroll processing and smart wage & hour standards are a focus of HR administration consultants at Soteria HR. When working with a client company, a key aspect of promoting success is ensuring smart consistency. In a sense, FLSA compliance is the beginning of an ongoing process.
As part of this ongoing process of FLSA compliance, Soteria HR consultants can help our client companies with the following services, including:
In-depth FLSA compliance review of all areas covered by FLSA and similar state laws, including FLSA exemptions, employment of minors and overtime, minimum wage, and the ongoing process of recordkeeping.
Careful review of related regulations enforced by DOL’s Wage and Hour Division, including Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and I-9 documents
An offer of online or in-person FLSA compliance training for employees
Continual support on FLSA issues, such as position exemption classification, hours worked, overtime requirements and pay deductions
As HR consultants, we offer ongoing FLSA wage & hour support for client companies. The FLSA HR consultants at Soteria HR have extensive expertise in wage & hour administration and FLSA risk analysis. With a history of resolving and handling a wide range of FLSA liabilities and complexities, we can help your company avoid costly regulatory headaches by maintaining FLSA compliance.