Chapter 12 Wages, Hours, and Pay Equity
comparators
a person of the opposite sex who is in the same workplace and receives a higher rate of pay for performing the same type of work as the plaintiff
pay secrecy policies
a policy that discourages employees from sharing information about their pay
job evaluation
a systematic process of rating jobs in terms of certain compensable factors
responsibility
accountability for outcomes, supervisory duties, and involvement in important decisions
migrant and seasonal agricultural work protection act (mspa)
an act that covers most seasonal agricultural employees and farm-workers with basic but important provisions
Pay docking rule
an approach of the DOL to determine whether employees are paid on a salary basis
Defending pay decisions is much easier if employers establish
and consistently apply specific job-related criteria for making those decisions
Outdoor salesmen
another significant category of exempt employees
factor other than sex
any factor other than sex that an employer in an equal pay act case can use to justify the differential pay
Workweek
any fixed and recurring period of seven consecutive days (168 hours). The workweek does not necessarily correspond to the calendar week or begin at the start of a workday. Work does not necessary occur on every day of the workweek. With just a few exceptions, FLSA overtime is earned on a weekly basis. IT does not matter how many hours an employee works on a particular day; the relevant issue is the number of hours worked in the workweek.
Under the FLSA employers must pay employees
at a rate no less than the minimum wage for each hour worked during a workweek.
Under the FLSA, employers can meet their minimum wage obligations to tipped employees by paying them
at least $2.13/hr, provided that this amount plus tips equals at least the minimum wage. However, to take advantage of the tip credit, employers must inform employees about it beforehand and allow employees to retain all tips, either individually or pooled among employees
employers are permitted to deduct from tips the transaction fees charged
by credit card issuers when tips are paid using credit cards
Public employers (government agencies) ______pay for overtime required under the FLSA with compensatory time off in the future
can
Private employers______ pay for overtime required under the FLSA with compensatory time off in the future
cannot
employers should be careful not to dock the pay of exempt executive, administrative, or professional employees for lack of available work to perform, partial day absences for personal reasons, and time spent on jury duty. employers should establish and communicate
clear policies prohibiting improper deductions from the pay of exempt employees and providing a mechanism for handling complaints about any such deductions. employees who are nonetheless subjected to improper deductions should be promptly reimbursed
To determine whether an individual is or is not an exempt executive administrative, or professional employee, the nature of that individuals duties and responsibilities must be
closely examined (duties test), as well as the manner in which the person is paid (salary basis test)
jobs frequently entail a mixture of exempt and nonexempt activities. Courts have to determine whether the primary duties of an employee are exempt in nature. Although exempt work normally
consumes more than half of an exempt employee's work time, the primary duties of an employee are not necessarily those performed most regularly
Although wages must generally be paid in cash (paychecks) the "reasonable cost" of goods customarily provided by employers for their employee's benefit, such as lodging and meals can be
credited against minimum wage and overtime pay obligations
duties test are used to determine whether
employees duties are genuinely executive, administrative, or professional in nature. Job titles, by themselves, mean nothing.
Tipped employees
employees who customarily and regularly receive at least $30 per month in tips
the terms exempt and nonexempt employees are used to contrast employees for whom
employers do not have to follow FLSA requirements (exempt) with employees entitled to the acts protections (nonexempt)
overtime pay
employers must pay at least one and one half times an employees regular rate of pay for each hour worked in excess of forty in a workweek
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
establishes a federal minimum wage and require premium pay for overtime work. It also sets out certain work-hour limitations for minors.
White collar exemptions
executive, administrative, and professional employees. These occupations are found in all types of businesses and comprise an estimated 20-27% of full-time U.S. workforce. Employees holding these jobs often work long hours and earn relatively high rates of pay.
Not everyone paid a salary is an
exempt employee
another important criterion for identifying administrative employees is the
exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance
sweatshops
firms that pay very low wages for long hours of work, provide unsafe conditions, and staunchly oppose unionization
Additional sums (generally limited to 25% of disposable earnings) may be deducted because of court of government agency has ordered an employees pay to be
garnished to recover money owed for obligations such as child support, alimony, and student loans
if employers do not want their employees to work extra hours, thereby incurring overtime liability, they must communicate and enforce policies prohibiting employees from working outside of assigned work hours without prior authorization. For these policies to be genuine, supervisors cannot
ignore workers starting work early, staying late, or coming in on scheduled days off. Nor should employees be assigned work and given deadlines that effectively require them to work late or take work home. Similarly, employees should not be pressured or allowed to under report hours worked
Employers are required to withhold
income taxes from employee's gross pay as well as the employees share of social security and medicare
consent deductions can be made for items such as
insurance, union dues, and savings plans
salary
is a pre-specified sum that an employee is paid for discharging the responsibilities associated with a position. the amount of time needed to do so and the quality and quantity of work output will likely vary week to week and are not the bases for payment
living wage
levels of hourly pay in excess of federal and state minimums
employers should be prepared to account for pay decisions, particularly when males and females performing similar jobs in the same workplace are
paid differently
under the pay docking rule, exempt employees must receive pre-determined amounts of pay not subject to reduction due to variations in the quantity or quality of work performed. Employers cannot reduce pay for
partial-day absences for personal reasons, time missed due to jury duty, court appearances as a witness, and temporary military leave; and for absences occasioned by the employer or the operating requirements of the business when the employee is other wise ready and able to work
employers must be aware that, depending on geographic location and dealings with government entities, they might be required to
pay a state minimum wage, prevailing wage, or living wage that exceeds federal minimum wage
avoid basing pay decisions on the
pay level in a prior position or on demands made in negotiations unless these actually reflect abilities of the individuals in question
Comp-time
paying for overtime work with compensatory time off rather than overtime pay.
employers justifying differential pay on the basis of individual salary negotiations should be able to
point to abilities or experience that justify acceptance of demands for higher pay
the fundamental criterion is whether the individual performs primarily office or non-manual duties that relate to the general operations and policies of the company, as opposed to
producing the goods or services that it sells.
if pay discrimination exists, it must be remedied by
raising the pay of the lower paid individual(s)
Because FLSA claims can go back as far as three years
records of wages paid and hours worked must be kept for at least three years
pay secrecy policies are likely to violate employees rights regardless of whether the policy is written or only spoken, whether or not the policy is strictly enforced, and whether the workplace is unionized or not unionized thus employers should
refrain from establishing and enforcing pay secrecy policies
Minors (14-15 years of age) can be employed in certain service or retail occupations, subject to
restrictions on their hours of work.
effort
the amount of physical and mental exertion required by a job
prevailing wage
the average wage paid to a class of employees in the relevant geographic area as determined by the DOL
An employees job description should clearly support
the determination that he or she is an exempt employee.
Employers are prohibited from paying a person of one sex at a lower rate of pay than a person of another sex performing substantially equal work in the same establishment-unless
the differential in pay is accounted for by a legitimate factor other than sex
employers making this claim should ensure that the more lucrative positions are open to both male and female employees and that
the differential profitability is not itself a product of discrimination
employers are not free to charge employees for items that primarily benefit the employer (e.g. uniforms or the laundering of uniforms, fees to cover breakage) when
the effect of those deductions would be to push an employee's hourly wage rate below minimum wage
Duties test
the examination of the nature of an individuals duties and responsibilities
Other than for minors the FLSA does not limit
the number of hours employee can be required to work
compemsable factors
the requirements of a job
compensable time
time spent in the principal work duties of an employee, during work hours or during time off and not punctuated with breaks, periods of waiting or downtime and other activities
A significant exception to the general requirement of hourly pay at least equal to minimum wage is made for
tipped employees
compensation takes many forms
tips, commissions, piecework earnings, bonuses, and merit pay; lodging and meals; pay for holidays, vacations, and sick days; premium pay for working on nights and weekends; and profit sharing and benefits
hours of work generally cannot be averaged across workweeks (e.g. long workweeks followed by a short one)
to avoid overtime liability. However, employers can rearrange hours within workweeks (e.g. a long day followed by a shorter day or day off in the same workweek) to avoid incurring overtime liability.
skill
what one needs to know and be able to do to perform a job
working conditions
"hazards"(how dangerous the job is in terms of physical hazards) and "surroundings" (e.g., elements such as fumes, outside work in cold weather).
Many questions about compensable time hinge on whether the time in question was or was not spent
"predominantly for the benefit of the employee"
The federal minimum wage
$7.25 an hour
When school is in session, minors must be employed outside of school hours between ___________________, not more than __ hours per day and not more than __ hours per week.
7 a.m. and 7 p.m. 3 18
When school is not in session minors can work up to
8 hours a day 40 hours per week. In the summer, the work day of a minor can be extended to 9 p.m.
prima facie case of pay discrimination
A case established when there is one or more persons of the opposite sex working in the same establishment who receives a higher rate of pay although preforming work substantially equal to that performed by the plaintiff
oppressive child labor
An FLSA requirement that minors (14-15 years of age) can be employed in certain service or retail occupations, subject to restrictions on their hours of work
Davis-Bacon Act
An act for construction contracts
Equal Pay Act
An act that is targeted specifically at pay discrimination based on sex
McNamara-O'hara Service Contract Act
An act to do with contracts for many different types of service