Check out this month's issue for news and updates related to: EEO-1 Filing Deadline Extended; FMLA, FLSA & Rest Breaks; Pay Equity & Upcoming Events!
|
|
EEO-1 Filing Deadline Extended
|
|
|
As you may have read in the March edition of this
newsletter
, EEO-1 reports
were to be
filed by March 31, 2018. Later that month, the EEOC website was updated and
announced
the deadline was extended to Friday, June 1, 2018. So, if you are a private sector employer with 100 or more employees, or a covered government contractor and you missed the prior deadline...reprieve!
Click here
for more information.
|
|
A SHRMStore
Great 8 Best-Seller
7 Years in a Row
!
Thank YOU!
|
|
Upcoming Events, Seminars & Presentations
|
- Wednesday, May 23rd, "Can We Do That?! Top 10 Challenges in Recruitment & Selection Procedures," FiveL Webcast.
- Thursday, May 31st, "HR Essentials for Business & 2018 Legislation," presented for the members & guests of Salisbury Chamber.
- Other upcoming events, click here
|
|
To Pay or Not to Pay?
FMLA, FLSA and Rest Breaks
|
|
|
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that an hourly or non-exempt employee be paid for rest breaks of up to 20 minutes in length. Why, if the employee performs no work? The rationale is that the break is primarily for the benefit of the employer, promoting the "efficiency of the employee" and giving the company a "reenergized employee." But, is there a limit to the number of breaks per day that must be compensated as time worked?
On April 12th, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued an
opinion letter
addressing, "whether a non-exempt employee's 15-minute rest breaks, which are certified by a health care provider as required every hour due to the employee's serious health condition and are thus covered under the FMLA [Family and Medical Leave Act], are compensable or non-compensable time under the FLSA."
The DOL Said
?! "No." The breaks need not be paid to the extent they exceed the number of compensable rest breaks the employee's coworkers receive. For example, if an employer generally allows all of its employees to take two, paid 15-minute rest breaks during an 8-hour shift, an employee needing eight, 15-minute rest breaks in an 8-hour shift (one every hour) due to an FMLA-covered, serious health condition should also receive compensation for two 15-minute rest breaks during his or her 8-hour shift. Thus, the remaining six breaks would be unpaid.
|
|
April Showers:
Pay Equity in the News
|
April 10th was
Equal Pay Day
. A day recognized every year since 1996, calculated by some to be the day through which a woman has to work to earn the same wages a man earned in the preceding year alone.
On April 9th, the Pew Research Center
reported
that in 2017, women earned 82% of the wage a man earned in the preceding calendar year alone. On the same day, the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals
ruled
that, "
prior salary alone or in combination with other factors cannot justify a wage differential."
But, the following week
another study
was published reporting
, "Our findings, which are robust to different statistical procedures and econometric specifications, do not reveal reliable evidence for differences in compensation paid to male and female CEOs." This study rebutted, in part a prior study that found women CEO's were actually paid more than their male counterparts.
Running concurrently with this, state legislatures are looking at related laws such as demanding wage transparency on the part of employers, requiring them to publish wage rates in job ads.
What's an employer to do
? (1) Take a deep breath; (2) know the laws (current and pending) in your state and local jurisdiction(s); and (3) consider the power of "Why?" If you want to know a candidate's current salary or wage rate, be able to explain your business rationale for needing that information. If a candidate is willing to take a $20,000 pay cut, that might be information you want to know and understand why. Oh, and I suppose I should add a fourth step: (4) talk to your company's employment counsel and tailor your recruitment, selection and hiring procedures to ensure legal compliance.
Speaking of...scroll above or
click here
and join our May webcast on that very topic!
|
|
This publication does not constitute the rendering of legal advice. You should consult your company's legal counsel for guidance on any particular matter.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
