A Workplace Rant....

by TD 3 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  TD

  (If you don't work in America, this will probably have little interest for you. Your laws will be different --and probably better!)

  I just finished a conversation with the HR person where I work, and I'm yet again amazed to find myself working for a company with no clue about what a salaried exempt employee is. How do you get to be an HR person, even for a medium sized business and not know this?

  The subject was jury duty. She referred me to the company handbook which states that, "Employees will be granted an unpaid leave of absence for jury duty" and I asked her if she thought 29 CFR 541.118 (Salary basis) had any bearing on the matter. (It clearly states that the overtime exemption will be lost if deductions are made for absences of less than 1 week caused by jury duty.)

  What I didn't tell her is that if an employer compromises the exempt status of an employee through deductions contrary to the "Salary Basis" prong of the FLSA and fails to rectify the situation after it is pointed out, the employer usually becomes liable for all the overtime the employee has worked back for a period of three years. (Plus liquidated damages in that amount) Thats one helluva big "carrot" to dangle in front of anybody.

  I didn't know a "delicate" way to point this out.

  Has anybody else run into this? If so, how did you get it through your employer's head that you're not exempt from overtime just because they "say your are" but because of the way in which they pay you?
• 

  jgnat

  Let me get this straight. If they deduct you they will lose the "overtime exempt" option and will have to pay you three year's backpay. Silly person.

  Here's another one for you. When I commenced with my employer in the eighties, I asked the clerk if I was a "single" or a "family" for deductions. I was a single parent. She said, "single". Get it? Single.....Parent. Good thing I didn't listen.
• 

  M.J.

  Sounds like a load of crap. I'm salaried and there's no deduction for jury duty. Not sure about the hourly employees though.

  We have a time entry system where you're supposed to enter your "exception time" taken like vacation, sick leave, jury duty, etc. All are paid exceptions. Even if you're on 2nd or 3rd shift, and you do jury duty during 1st shift hours, you're still excused from coming into work during your shift.

  As for the 3 yrs, do you actually keep track of how often you've put in more than your 40 hrs? Would you need to have it documented? I have no way of knowing how many extra hours I've put in beyond an educated guess.

  BTW, in former companies I was salaried non-exempt and got paid overtime. That was a nice deal for a single guy.
• 

  TD

  Hi Jgnat,

  Let me get this straight. If they deduct you they will lose the "overtime exempt" option and will have to pay you three year's backpay. Silly person.

  That's the gist of it and the dilemma as well. This person doesn't realize they're being silly and they're endangering the company in the process. But when an employee points it out, it can be construed as a "bad attitude" at best and an overt threat at worst. (Recovery of lost wages involves going to court.)

  I like your story. Marital status vs. Tax exemption are two entirely different usages of the term "Single" that aren't necessarily interchangeable. Is that a Canadian idiosyncrasy in general or was it just this one company?

  Hi MJ

  As for the 3 yrs, do you actually keep track of how often you've put in more than your 40 hrs?

  Yes, you need to be able to document your time. Another peculiarity of this company is that you're required to fill out weekly timesheets, documenting when you've come and gone. Smart huh?