FLSA Common Violation #3

FLSA Compliance laws can get tricky.  The laws can be hard to understand, and misunderstanding the laws could cost your business money.  Understanding where you are failing to follow FLSA regulations gives you a chance to fix the violations. This blog post is not meant as a substitute for legal council.  Always contact legal representation if you have any questions regarding FLSA compliance. Using a mobile resource management solution can make it easier.

Where do most companies go wrong?  The FLSA knows.  The following list was collected by the FLSA and is available for you to download from their site. Click here.    

Common Violation #3                                                                                                                  

Failure to compensate for meal breaks where an employee is not completely relieved of all duties to enjoy uninterrupted time for a meal.

Problem:
Laws vary in every state regarding how often breaks must be given. However, the FLSA requires that a break must be uninterrupted.  If an employee is required to work through the break, then it isn’t an actual break, and they should be compensated for their time.

Solution:
Tracking employee breaks is the easy part.  Tracking breaks requires implementing a work-flow that requires a Clock OUT at the beginning of a break and a Clock IN at the end of a break. However you do it, documenting that your employees were given a break is the first step to protecting your business from FLSA litigation.

Using AboutTime’s task feature employees can clock IN to a task labeled “Lunch” or “Break” and then Clock IN to a work task code when they begin working again.  
The tricky part is tracking whether or not your employees had an uninterrupted break.   Training your managers on the laws is a good first step. Make sure they understand that when an employee has clocked OUT for a break they shouldn’t be asked to perform work tasks.  As we stated before, documentation is what protects your business from FLSA litigation.

AboutTime has an Employee Feedback feature that provides the documentation needed to protect yourself from claims associated with this law.  Simply ask each employee at clock OUT if they took an uninterrupted break.  If the answer is Yes then you have successfully documented your compliance.  If the answer is NO, you can address the situation before it becomes a lawsuit.

See Common Violation #1
See Common Violation #2