Employers frequently express frustration with the limitations the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) places on their ability to discipline exempt employees. Many operate under the misconception that they can’t touch exempt employees for not working a full 40-hour workweek.
If that were true, then being an exempt employee would be basically the same thing as being tenured, and that certainly is not what the FLSA requires. Employers may require exempt employees to work their full schedule each week and to be present in the office during on-duty hours.
In fact, employers may require employees to work well in excess of 40 hours per week.
The key to enforcing such requirements is to use other forms of discipline besides docking the employee’s pay.
For example, you may impose nonmonetary discipline such as verbal and written warnings—up to and including termination—on exempt employees who fail to live up to your expectations. In fact, the Department of Labor (DOL) says that employers may require exempt employees to make up missed time as long as their salary is not reduced if they fail to do so.
Yes, you do have the budget and time to train managers and supervisors with BLR’s® 10-Minute HR Trainer. Get it Now.
Certain Forms of Monetary Discipline Are Acceptable
In addition, certain forms of monetary discipline are permissible. For instance, you may subject an underperforming employee to an overall salary reduction, such as cutting his or her annual salary from $45,000 to $40,000, as a disciplinary measure.
Such an overall salary reduction is permissible so long as it is on a “permanent” (i.e., not workweek) basis and is not tied to an employee’s attendance or quality or quantity of work performed during a particular workweek.
Another permissible form of monetary discipline is to reduce or deny bonuses, commissions, or other incentive payments. As long as the employee’s salary remains untouched, the exemption is safe.
Rules about pay and exemptions, just one of the many things your people need training on. But, who’s got time for training?
We’ve solved that with an easy-to-manage program that lets you train in discrete, 10-minute chunks. It’s a program that’s easy for you to deliver and that requires little time from busy schedules, BLR’s unique 10-Minute HR Trainer.
No budget? If you’re like most companies in these tight budget days, you will like that it is reasonable in cost.
Yes, you do have the budget and time to train managers and supervisors with BLR’s® 10-Minute HR Trainer. Get it Now.
As its name implies, this product trains managers and supervisors in critical HR skills in as little as 10 minutes for each topic. 10-Minute HR Trainer offers these features:
- Trains in 50 key HR topics. Includes all major employment laws, including manager and supervisor responsibilities, and how to legally carry out managerial actions from hiring to termination. (See a complete list of topics below.)
- Uses the same teaching sequence master teachers use. Every training unit includes an overview, bullet points on key lessons, a quiz, and a handout to reinforce the lesson later.
- Completely prewritten and self-contained. Each unit comes as a set of reproducible documents. Just make copies and you’re done. (Take a look at a sample lesson below.)
- Updated continually. As laws change, your training needs do so as well. 10-Minute HR Trainer provides new lessons and updated information every 90 days, along with a monthly Training Forum newsletter, for as long as you are in the program.
- Works fast. Each session is so focused that there’s not a second’s waste of time. Your managers are in and out almost before they can look at the clock, yet they remember small details even months later.
Evaluate It at No Cost for 30 Days
We’ve arranged to make 10-Minute HR Trainer available to our readers for a 30-day, in-office, no-cost trial. Review it at your own pace, and try some lessons with your colleagues. If it’s not for you, return it at our expense. Click here and we’ll set you up with 10-Minute HR Trainer.