As gasoline prices near the $5 mark, millions of Americans are
wondering how they can alter their commutes to work in hopes of driving less
and lowering their cost of living. Employers can do their part to help
employees cut driving time—and conserve natural resources—by offering
alternative workweeks or telecommuting arrangements. But beware: Both of these
options carry wage and hour risks. We’ll explain.
Implement an Alternative Workweek
Because of
daily overtime law, you can get hit with a big overtime bill if nonexempt
employees cram 40 hours into shorter workweeks—such as four 10-hour days. You
can avoid paying daily overtime for a compressed workweek only if you follow
detailed rules for implementing an alternative workweek. For information and
forms for setting up such an arrangement, check out our exclusive four-part
series on alternative workweeks in the January to April 2008 issues of CWHA.
Offer Telecommuting
Allowing nonexempt employees to telecommute from home, anywhere
from one day a week to full time, raises a number of wage and hour issues:
Time recording. One of the biggest problems employers face is how to verify the
hours a telecommuter has worked. Also, the law requires employers to keep
detailed time records, including the start and end time of meal breaks.
Consider handling these issues by using a computer or telephone system that
tracks an employee’s work time. And, require telecommuters to fill out and
return a signed weekly time report.
Overtime limits. Another problem area can arise when telecommuters work
unauthorized overtime. Head off overtime liability by implementing a policy that
imposes disciplinary consequences for working unauthorized overtime.
Travel time. Travel time and pay issues may also crop up with telecommuting
arrangements. Normally, you don’t have to pay an employee for his or her
commute time. However, for a telecommuter, an occasional required visit to the
office, such as for a meeting or training session, may count as travel time
rather than as a commute. To determine whether the time is compensable, look at
how often the employee is required to make the trip into the office (more often
might indicate a commute), the distance traveled (if the employee is local, it’s
more likely a commute; if the employee is from out of town, it’s more likely
travel time), and whether the travel occurs before or after the employee has
already started his or her workday at home (after the start would be more
indicative of travel time).
You could help employees to organize carpools, arrange priority parking for carpool vehicles, provide public transportation discounts and information, and award gas cards to employees for good performance
Other Options
Besides offering
flexible schedules and telecommuting, or as alternatives if those options don’t
work for your organization or certain employees, there are other ways you can
make a difference in offsetting the rising cost of commuting. You could help
employees to organize carpools, arrange priority parking for carpool vehicles,
provide public transportation discounts and information, and award gas cards to
employees for good performance.