Originally published November 5, 2012
With the hurricane hitting the East Coast and creating havoc for businesses trying to rebuild as quickly as possible, it is important to remember that there are no emergency exceptions to wage and hour laws. When a company goes into crisis mode, it is important to maintain the normal safeguards and policies that ensure the proper calculation of work time and payment of overtime.
The following are a few tips to avoid the common mistakes and pitfalls that employers face during these difficult times:
- Employers are only obliged to pay non-exempt workers for actual hours worked. If weather shuts down their place of employment, the employer is typically not required to pay any wages, absent a contractual agreement. Exempt employees, however, must be paid for their entire work week if they perform any work during the week and they are prevented from working because of no fault of their own (i.e. the business is closed because of weather).
- Consider allowing or requiring employees to use vacation or other accrued time for weather related absences. Absent a contract or conflicting state laws, an employer typically has flexibility in this area as long as the policy is applied consistently.
- Non-exempt employees working from home must be paid. Similarly, non-exempt employees who perform out of the ordinary tasks for the benefit of the employer (like cleanup or repairs) must be paid. An employee typically cannot volunteer to perform work for the benefit of his or her own employer.
- Many states have deadlines for providing paychecks to employees. There may be exceptions for emergencies, but some are more rigid. If you have other branches which are operational, consider having checks processed or mailed from other sites to avoid delays.
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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
