10 Common Misconceptions about Payroll and How to Avoid Them

Overview:

Even in the 21st century there are many misconceptions about what is actually required to pay employees correctly under federal and state wage and hour laws. There are some who absolutely know that it is illegal to force exempt employees to record their time (it is not) or that if you pay an employee for a holiday it must be included in the calculation for overtime under the law (it does not). Others are convinced that if they have a firm policy in place that states emphatically that overtime must be approved in advance or it will not be paid is perfectly legal not to pay the overtime (it is not).

Attend this webinar to understand the 10 most common areas of misconception about paying employees and to ensure that the company is handling them correctly thereby not underpaying or overpaying the employee.

Why should you attend:

Misconceptions concerning wage and hour law and paying employees can cause severe problems for employers. Not paying overtime because it was not approved in advance can result in penalties, fines and interest not to mention an audit by the Department of Labor. And having a "written policy in place" will not help. Failure to pay overtime to an employee merely because he or she has been designated as "on salary" does not relieve the employer of the penalties if they did so because they "misunderstood the law". But misconceptions can also cost money where it doesn't need to be paid resulting in needless increased labor costs. Does your company include vacation, sick or PTO as hours worked when calculating overtime because of the misconception that it is required by law? Or is it done because this is the policy the company "wishes" to follow?

This webinar discusses 10 areas of wage and hour law that when misunderstood or applied incorrectly causes employees to be paid incorrectly with the resulting penalties, fines and interest. Some of these misconceptions can even cause the employer to overpay employees forcing unnecessarily higher labor costs.

Areas Covered in the Session:

• Weekly overtime is the only OT employers need to worry about (federal law always supersedes state law)
• The workweek is whatever the company defines it as and it can be changed as the need arises
• The employer gets to decide what is worked time
• Employees do not have to be paid for sleep, travel time or other type of "unproductive time"
• Employees have the option to skip meal periods or breaks
• Benefit time such as holiday, sick or vacation pay must be included in the computation of overtime
• Only hourly employees are paid overtime
• Exempt employee cannot be forced to punch a time clock. If they did their hours exceeding 40 would be considered overtime
• An exempt employee working in an hourly position does not have to be paid overtime
• Overtime not approved in advance does not have to be paid

Who Will Benefit:

• Payroll Professionals
• Human Resources
• Accounting Personnel
• Business Owners
• Lawmakers
• Attorneys, or any individual or entity that must deal with the complexities and technicalities of ensuring compliance within the payroll process