Master Class: Texas Advanced Skills for Wage and Hour Compliance Mgt (AHM)

*** LIMITED TIME OFFER: FREE $100 AMAZON GIFT CARD! ***

On-Site Seminar:

Dallas, Texas | Thursday, March 26, 2020

BLR’s Wage and Hour Master Class features an all-new agenda on how to tackle the latest compliance challenges stemming from miscalculations of pay, compensation planning practices, salary communication missteps, and more, such as:

The Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division’s (WHD) final overtime exemption rule overhaul, which goes into effect soon

Updates on pay equity legislative trends and the practical impact of Congress’ proposed Paycheck Fairness Act and WAGE Equity Act

The increased risk of class and collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which could result in financial liability into the millions of dollars

The latest prohibitions on requests for applicants’ salary history

How to maneuver sensitive salary communication conversations that you should have when converting exempt workers to nonexempt status

How bonuses factor into the new salary threshold for overtime exemption

How to correctly calculate overtime pay in compliance with applicable FLSA overtime regulations

How to analyze required duties tests for each job to ensure that your employees meet the salary and duties tests required for overtime exemption

How to minimize the risk of EEOC, OFCCP, or private lawsuits alleging unfair pay practices by conducting a comprehensive pay equity audit that corrects disparate compensation practices while preserving the all-important “privilege”

How to determine groupings for compensation analysis by job title, job family, pay grade, and overtime exemption status

An examination of no-poaching agreements which prevent franchisees from employing current or recent former employees of the franchisor or other franchisees, without consent of the current or recent former employer

Top FLSA timekeeping, hours of work, and recordkeeping pitfalls to avoid and stay off state DOL and federal WHD enforcement officers’ radars

Master Class Agenda

Registration

7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m.

Grab a cup of coffee from our refreshment station, get situated, and get ready to learn!

Federal Regulatory, Legislative, and Court Ruling Hot Spots: The Practical Impact of New Standards, Rules, and More

8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.

The financial stakes are huge if your company isn’t fully compliant with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and applicable Department of Labor (DOL) regulations. It is even more crucial now that the DOL has released its final rule that will increase the salary threshold for overtime exemptions to $35,568 annually (up from $35,308 in the proposed rule). Also, the Paycheck Fairness Act passed in the House of Representatives in March 2019. The ultimate fate of this pay equity legislation in the Senate remains to be seen, but the fact is that the legislation mimics laws already in place and being considered in cities and states across the country. And, there’s more cause for concern: Congress’ proposed WAGE Equity Act has been presented as an alternative to the Paycheck Fairness Act, so it’s likely some form of new pay equity legislation will become law at the national level. Also, there are newly proposed regulations on calculating the regular rate of pay and joint employer situations, as well as court rulings that are cause for concern for employers nationwide.

This opening session will provide a succinct summary of:

The timeline for implementation on the DOL’s final overtime exemption rule and what the rule does and doesn’t do

What Congress’ Paycheck Fairness Act seeks to do, and the practical implications it would present for employers

How the WAGE Equity Act differs from the Paycheck Fairness Act and why, regardless of what federal legislation ultimately become law, now is the time to ensure compensation practices are equitable and fair

Where state legislation banning employers from inquiring as to applicants’ salary history has already gone into effect and where new legislation is expected to pass

The DOL’s final rule providing clarification on how to determine employees’ regular rate of pay and what forms of payment employers can include and exclude in the overtime pay calculation

The increased risk of liability for employers under the FLSA for collective and class actions and more

The DOL’s proposed rule on joint employment which aims to ensure employers in joint employment situations, especially those in franchise arrangements, clearly understand their responsibilities to pay workers at least the federal minimum wage and overtime

How no-poaching clauses in franchise agreements could pose legal risks related to raises, opportunities for employee advancement, and other employment issues for employees working at franchised locations

The latest examples of costly settlements and judgments related to organizations’ federal wage and hour violations

Overtime Eligible or Not Under the DOL’s New Overtime Rules? Part I: Preparing for the Increased Salary Threshold for Exemption with a Comprehensive Strategy for Addressing Salary Communication Issues and More

9:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

Now that the DOL has finalized its overtime exemption rule, you need to ensure you’re in compliance. This session is designed to boil down the practical impact the DOL’s final overtime exemption rule has on companies operating in the United States. Wage and hour attorneys will walk you through what to do and how to ensure that your organization has a solid game plan so you’ll be ready for the salary threshold adjustments that need to be made.

You’ll learn:

Key salary factors to consider when determining whether an employee is exempt or nonexempt including salary level, the salary basis test, additional payments beyond an employee’s salary, and fee basis payments

Timekeeping issues for salaried exempt employees – can you track their hours and set specific hours for them to work?

Which exemptions are not subject to the salary requirements

How the DOL’s final overtime exemption rule differs from the Obama-era rule that a court struck down in 2016, and the practical impact of the new annual salary threshold

The final rule’s impact on salaries of highly compensated employees

How often the DOL will update the salary level going forward, and the fate of automatic update

How bonuses will factor into the salary threshold for exemption

Cost-minimizing strategies for when it makes more sense to re-classify employees as nonexempt or raise employee salaries to meet the new threshold

How deductions from pay enter into your analysis

How the new developments impact compensation planning generally

How to develop a communication plan to clearly explain to employees what’s changing with respect to their overtime exemption status and why, and how to ensure that supervisors and managers have the information they need to effectively communicate the practical impact of changes to their direct reports

What key information to convey to employees—and how to make sure they understand what will now be required in terms of tracking hours

How to head off concerns that going from exempt to nonexempt status is a demotion

Networking Break

10:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.

Overtime Eligible or Not Under the DOL’s FInal Overtime Rules? Part II: Navigating the Duties Tests to Cost-effectively Determine Which Employees Should Be Exempt and Nonexempt

10:45 a.m. – Noon

How many of your employees should be switched from the exempt to nonexempt classifications due to the DOL’s final increase in the salary threshold? How can your company continue to control overtime costs while remaining in compliance with the FLSA? How should you go about exempting an employee from overtime under the DOL? In addition to passing the salary level test and the salary basis test, an employee must also pass the duties tests for either the executive, administrative, professional, computer employee, or outside sales exemptions to be considered exempt from overtime. Some employers adopt a “head in the sand” approach to the FLSA, gambling that their questionable pay practices won’t be discovered. Such employers mistakenly assume that because business is good and employees seem satisfied with their compensation, they have nothing to worry about. But remember: all it takes is one disgruntled employee to visit a competent plaintiff’s attorney or make a complaining phone call to the DOL, and it’s off to the races, your pay practices will be open to dissection by the DOL, a judge, or even a jury. Under the DOL’s final overtime rules, companies will have to analyze the required duties tests for each job to ensure that their employees meet the salary and duties tests required for exemption. And also, employers should periodically review the duties of all exempt employees to ensure that they still qualify for exempt status down the line.

You’ll learn:

Where the duties tests stand now that the DOL has issued its final rule on overtime exemptions

Key test factors to determine whether an employee passes the duties tests for the executive, administrative, professional, computer professional, and outside sales exemptions, as well as employees in education

Whether you should change an employee’s duties to qualify the employee for either the exempt or nonexempt classification

How important job titles are when it comes to passing the duties tests

Why some employees labeled as “managers” and “assistant managers” may be nonexempt and entitled to overtime in the DOL’s eyes

Tips for avoiding a DOL overtime audit

Networking Lunch (provided)

Noon – 1:00 p.m.

The Ins and Outs of Calculating Overtime in Compliance with the Proposed Overtime Regulations

1:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Overtime calculations can get tricky when employees are paid a salary but work over 40 hours, or they work a different number of hours each week, or they are paid a piece rate or commission. Now that more employees will likely fall into the nonexempt classification under the DOL’s final overtime rule changes, it is important to make sure the newly nonexempt are properly tracking their time. These scenarios can end up costing employers millions when they fail to correctly pay overtime. It is vitally important for employers to make confident and correct calculations.

You’ll learn:

What a “workweek” is under FLSA rules

The proper timing of overtime pay

When compensatory time can be used legally

How payment on an hourly basis, salaried basis, and at different hourly rates differ

Key factors regarding fluctuating workweeks

Payment rules for piece rate and day rate employees

How commissions factor into overtime payments

The rules that apply to fire protections and law enforcement personnel

What to include when determining total compensation

Pay Equity Audits: How to Analyze and Correct Disparate Compensation Practices by Analyzing Groupings by Job Title, Job Family, Pay Grade, and Overtime Exemption Status and More

1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

Equal pay is hot—and pay discrimination claims are on the rise. In the past two years, more than a dozen states and several major cities have passed new, aggressive equal pay laws designed to make it easier for employees to bring (and win) pay discrimination claims. This growing “patchwork” of federal, state, and local laws poses particularly worrisome challenges especially for multistate employers. For instance, how can multistate organizations comply with different and often contrasting laws from state to state? How can organizations proactively address pay equity issues before being targeted for internal complaints, EEOC charges, OFCCP investigations, and the growing wave of private litigation? Also, how can an organization find and fix the unexplained disparities that lurk within our pay systems? And, can an organization do this all “under privilege” so it doesn’t have to turn over its efforts in discovery in response to demands from increasingly savvy plaintiffs’ counsels and enforcement agencies? This session will outline how to take a proactive and strategic approach when addressing the growing pay equity challenges your organization faces.

You’ll learn:

How two major federal statutes prohibiting gender-based differences in pay—the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII)—could spark costly legal liability for your organization

The growing patchwork of new state and big-city equal pay laws and what they mean practically for your company

How to take advantage of the “safe harbors” under many new state equal pay laws to protect your organization from claims and liability

How to conduct a review of your company’s wage-setting practices to find and fix unexplained disparities so you can get your compensation planning practices on the right—legal—track

How to establish the all-important privilege for your pay equity audit

How to determine groupings for analysis by job title, job family, pay grade, and overtime exemption status

Examples of ‘similarly situated’ and ‘comparable’ positionsFactors you must consider, including date of hire, legacy data, time in grade, and more

Running the numbers for large, medium, and small groups—when to apply regression analysis and when something else is needed

What to do if you can’t explain a pay disparity

Tips for avoiding claims of gender-based wage discrimination

Networking Break

2:30 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.

FLSA Timekeeping, Hours of Work, and Recordkeeping Mythbusters: Top Pitfalls for Staying Off State DOL and Federal WHD Enforcers’ Audit Radars

2:45 p.m. – 4:15 p.m.

There is no federal law that sets out how often or in what form you must pay wages, but you have a lot of other issues to contend with. For example, how do you pay employees who work 24-hour shifts, but sleep during the shift? If an employee shows up for work early, do you have to pay the employee? What do you do with employees who forget to punch in? What about for those who travel for work after hours? This session will put to rest myths that could be exposing your company to costly liability.

We’ll cover important issues such as:

Tracking time, punching in and out, rounding, and the de minimis rule

What counts as hours worked

On-call time

Meal and rest periods

Sleep time

Commuting and travel time

Waiting time

Training time

Changing clothes

Pre/post work time, including time spent in post-shift security screenings

Charitable/civic activities

Permissible and impermissible pay deductions for nonexempt employees

Examples of when partial-day pay deductions are permitted for exempt staff

Predictive scheduling laws

Minimum wage requirements under your state’s law(s), including examples of how tip pools/credits could land employers in hot water

Final paychecks—common pitfalls to watch out for and mistakes that could cost you under your state’s applicable law(s)

Recordkeeping

Final Questions and Answers

4:15 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

We’ll wrap up the day by giving you the opportunity to get your specific questions answered by attorneys well-versed in the complexities of wage and hour compliance, with clear instructions for adjusting your practices in light of the very latest legal developments.

Our Texas Faculty Attorneys with with Jackson Lewis P.C.

Danielle Alexis Matthews

Danielle is a Principal in the Dallas, Texas, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Her practice focuses on representing employers in workplace law matters, including preventive advice and counseling.

Katrin U. Schatz

Katrin is a Principal in the Dallas, Texas, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Her practice includes general employment litigation, affirmative action compliance, disability, leave and health management.

Claire Cook

Claire is an Associate in the Dallas, Texas, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. Her practice focuses on representing employers in workplace law matters, including preventive advice and counseling.

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