Job Classifications drive the status of positions related to exempt and non exempt. Remember, those positions that are "exempt" are those "exempt" from overtime pay. Also, be careful as to who you classify as Independent Contractor!
Too often we believe that paying employees either on a salary or hourly rate basis is more of an option than a specific set of criteria that drives classification and required by law!
Non Exempt Employees are those hourly staff in positions that are required to track work time in a detailed manner. Recording such time is very important! Accuracy in pay records and having appropriate authorizations by supervisory level personnel to verify time worked are also very important. Consider some important factors when reviewing how you are doing:
Be sure your position descriptions are updated and detailed to clearly show the duties to ensure proper classifications.
Time worked must be recorded properly. Are you sure you do this?
Are breaks and lunch taken and accounted for in the record?
Are you allowing non exempt employees to work extra hours and not careful about tracking this extra work time? Worse yet...are you giving them "comp" time? Comp time is not allowed in the private sector. It isn't okay for non-exempt employees to work over time on a "voluntary" basis.
Are you in compliance with the FLSA Minimum Salary Level requirement of $455.00 per week and the NYS requirement of $536.10 per week for anyone who is classified as administrative or executive and exempt?
Compliance begins with updated detailed position descriptions and careful review of the criteria related to FLSA rules in order to classify the positions appropriately. Then comes monitoring compliance and payroll processes and records to be sure you are doing this right!
The Federal audits go back as far as three years, the State audits for compliance, go as far as six years! Your accurate records are extremely important to have and to comply with recordkeeping requirements!
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So, be sure to do an audit on your positions and see where you are! It will be worth the time and effort. As deficits in government continue, more ways to find money are out there leading to audits for violations of laws such as this one. Also, with the continued collaboration and coordinated tasks forces to assist one another, such non compliance is shared among the different agencies who impose their own penalties. This is quick money for non compliance!
