FLSA

Business owners, managers and employees should know about the Fair Labor Standards Act and understand the ways they are impacted by it.

The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law that dates back to 1938. It addresses four main topics:

Minimum Wage – Employers must pay all employees at least $7.25 per hour. However, if the minimum wage in your state is higher, employees must be paid the higher rate of the two wages.
Overtime – Employees that work more than 40 hours per week must be paid at the overtime rate of at least 1.5 times their hourly rate of pay. Since work weeks vary for employers, you should explain this to your employees. Does your work week start on Sunday, Monday, or another day? You may process payroll biweekly, but the work week is still a seven-day, 24-hour period. You should also remind employees that the FLSA doesn’t count benefit time (holiday, vacation, PTO, etc) toward the 40 hours.
Youth Employment – Employers must provide a safe work environment and follow all applicable laws depending on the child's age and type of work. Children are not permitted to work in hazardous environments, and there are additional requirements if the job is in agriculture.
Records – Employers must pay wages timely and keep all payroll records, including hours worked, if an FLSA violation claim is filed with the Department of Labor. You are also required to display a poster outlining the requirements of the FLSA.

What should managers remember?

Employees are always on the clock if they are working or required to be at a worksite.
Non-exempt employees must be paid overtime and do not have the option to receive “comp time” instead.
Some employees are exempt from the FLSA. Employers need to be very careful when determining if a position is considered exempt or non-exempt. The job responsibilities, duties, and wages paid determine this. In my opinion, it is always better to classify a position as non-exempt if you’re in doubt.

If you would like to dive deeper into this topic, the Department of Labor has an excellent website - https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa.