One New York City Employer not Taking Time with Paying Overtime

New York, NYThere has been widespread controversy throughout America over unpaid overtime. Many employers have dodged the overtime bullet for several years labeling employees as salaried. Companies with salaried employees feel the title of "salaried" is a safe haven to skirt paying overtime. They believe salary indicates a certain amount of pay no matter how many hours an employee actually works. But, employers are beginning to see where they need to proceed with caution with salaried workers.

For instance, a store manager may be paid a salary to manage and maintain the overall operations of a location. However, if the store manager winds up performing duties such as running the cash register, stocking, or handling shipment they may be eligible for overtime pay.

New York City employer, Waterfront Media, understands and is being pro-active when it comes to shelling out overtime pay to its employees. The owner of the company specifically hired a human resources specialist to address and administer over the area of overtime pay. When the company approached the fifty employee mark, Waterfront Media hired the HR representative. The company runs fifteen well-being and health type websites and began as an entrepreneurial venture. Waterfront Media's owner is well aware that he has employees that are eligible for overtime pay at one and half times their normal rate of pay. The company is making every effort to see that they are complying with New York laws regarding the additional pay for additional work time.

Throughout the country, overtime is continuing to be a source of legal conflict between employees and employers. Employers have a difficult time becoming aligned with the laws and expectations that come with compliance to the overtime law. Employers may have to tweak practices dating back to the earliest days of the company in order to come up to speed.

Failure to comply with overtime laws can be very costly in more ways than one for employers. Employers have the dilemma of trying to figure out if they owe employees retro-active pay, and if so how far back do they need to calculate? Sometimes figuring the overtime is a simple matter. Lawsuits are abounding from employees who feel they have been short changed in the overtime department. An employer may easily pay court costs and attorney fees for the company and the employee in addition to the overtime pay owed. Federal overtime laws are observed under the Federal Labor Standards Act.

There are ways employers can protect themselves from lawsuits concerning overtime. It is very important that employers realize that overtime is not based on labels or position titles given to employees. This is what is often done in the case of salaried employees. The law is on the side of employees in regards to what they do on the job as opposed to what their title happens to be. Have measures in place to properly track overtime. Also, make it a rule that management must issue and approve overtime for all employees before they work it.

By Delsia Hartford