Remote Work Timekeeping
In August 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor released Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2020-5. The bulletin addresses “Employers’ obligation to exercise reasonable diligence in tracking teleworking employees’ hours of work.”
While the bulletin covers issues arising directly from the COVID-19 pandemic, it also applies to remote work arrangements in general.
FAB 2020-5 affirms that employers subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act must pay nonexempt employees for all hours worked. Including work done from home and work that is “not requested but suffered or permitted.” Regardless of whether you authorized the work or the employee requested it, you must pay the employee for work performed if you know — or have reason to believe — they did the work.
The FLSA specifically mandates the employer to exercise its control so that employees do not perform work the employer does not want done. In other words, the onus is on the employer to prevent work “when it is not desired.”
As the bulletin states, it may not be easy to define “when an employer has reason to believe that the work is being performed,” especially when the employee works offsite or at a location not controlled by the employer. Consequently, when resolving the issue of whether an employee should be paid for unscheduled hours worked, courts consider whether the employer should have — via reasonable diligence — acquired knowledge that the hours were being worked.
Conducting reasonable diligence
As mentioned, the reasonable diligence standard adheres to what the employer should have known (instead of what it could have known).
You can show diligence by implementing reasonable procedures for employees to report scheduled and unscheduled work hours.
If an employee fails to report unscheduled work hours through this reasonable reporting process, you do not have to undertake impractical measures to determine whether the unreported hours were actually worked. Such impractical measures may include weeding through non-payroll records to decipher whether the employee worked more hours than they reported.
Ultimately, by not using the reasonable reporting procedure to inform you of unscheduled work hours, the employee has effectively thwarted you from preventing the work. Additionally, they prevented you from knowing your obligation to compensate them. Importantly, “the FLSA does not require that employers pay for work that it did not know about and had no reason to know about.”
FAB 2020-5 makes clear that a time reporting system does not constitute reasonable diligence if it discourages or stops employees from correctly reporting their hours worked, or requires employees to waive their rights to compensation under the FLSA.
The Point
The key takeaway is that employers with nonexempt remote employees should develop sufficient and transparent procedures for reporting scheduled and unscheduled work hours. If an employee fails to use this system, you may be able to successfully argue that they thwarted your efforts to prevent unwanted work.
How Atlantic Payroll Partners can help
We can help by providing you with timekeeping tools and payroll service. Old school timekeeping is likely going to be a pain when it comes to remote work. Having your employees use modern tools is the efficient way to handle timekeeping and payroll. As a local payroll company we have experience in this arena. Managing payroll is the name of the game for us and we’re more than willing to help your business, regardless of the number of employees. If you’re interested in learning more, get a quote or call us at 772-466-0440.
Copyright 2024
Why Atlantic Payroll Partners
The biggest payroll companies probably won’t have time for your business. It’s that simple, you’ll be a number. At Atlantic Payroll Partners, you’ll be the opposite. We’ll know more than your name; we’ll know the names of your children and their birthday’s as well. We will know you.
We’ve been helping Florida business by managing their payroll and providing workers' compensation quotes for ten years. We help keep payroll cost affordable by provided transparent PEO payroll quotes that allow you to plan your budget accordingly. Like the big payroll companies, you can manage your payroll and payroll timekeeping with us, while reaping the benefits of PEO risk management.
Thinking about payroll outsourcing can be scary. Make sure you know what to expect from payroll outsourcing providers; to make the best decision for your business. In addition to offering payroll, and workers' comp quote we offer: Human Resource consultations, Accounting services, and benefits such as, 401ks and Healthcare plans.
Managing the HR and Payroll of your Remote Employees
Managing remote employees
We’re seven months into the pandemic and it’s very likely that you’ve made some permanent changes to how you hire and manage employees. Below are some of the highlights to focus on, it’s by no means everything but a good starting point. If you find yourself with questions feel free to contact us.
If your remote employees live in the state where your business is located, you must follow federal employment laws plus your state’s employment rules. But if your remote employees live in a different state from where you conduct business, you must comply with federal employment laws plus the labor laws for each state in which your employees reside. This applies to all areas of employment, including hiring, performance management, payroll and employee benefits.
Managing Hiring Policies
When hiring remote employees, you must consider all laws affecting the recruiting, interviewing and hiring processes. Among them are federal anti-discrimination laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963.
Note that many states have their own anti-discrimination laws, and some jurisdictions prohibit employers from requesting that applicants disclose their salary history.
In addition, employers must conduct employment eligibility verification via Form I-9 and perform new hire reporting with the state.
Talent Management
Managing a remote team is considerably different from managing an on-site team. With remote employees, you cannot walk over to their desks to chat or have in-person meetings with them.
Without proper support, your remote team can easily become disengaged. And if you’re not careful, you could find yourself forgetting essential duties, such as tracking their time worked and staying abreast of PTO requests.
Below are suggestions for avoiding these pitfalls and attaining an engaged remote team:
- Set clear expectations, upfront, with each team member.
- Let them know whom to contact if they have questions. Have a system in place that promptly addresses their concerns.
- Build a rapport with each team member. Encourage their input on matters affecting their work or the team.
- Offer regular feedback via one-on-one meetings using Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts or another video conferencing platform.
- Help them fulfill their career goals by fairly evaluating their performance, developing action plans for improvement and rewarding high performance.
- Utilize technology that simplifies timekeeping and leave of absence administration.
Managing Payroll and Benefits
Like on-site employees, remote employees are subject to federal and state payroll laws plus applicable employee benefits regulations. These laws relate to:
- Minimum wage
- Overtime
- Exempt employees
- Tax withholding
- Paycheck deductions
- Payday frequency
- Final wages
- Breaks and meal periods
- Workers’ compensation
- Unemployment insurance
- Paid and unpaid time off
- Voluntary benefits, such as health insurance and retirement plans
- Record keeping
Overwhelmed with the idea of managing payroll and benefits during a pandemic or any other time. We can help when it comes to managing remote employees.
Health and Safety
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has stated in the past that it does not perform inspections of employees’ home offices and that employers are generally not responsible for home-based safety issues. This is a gray area. Therefore, employers with remote employees should obtain legal advice regarding health and safety.
Other complex areas that may require legal counsel include when employees work both remotely and on-site, when employees work in a different country and when an employer terminates a remote employee. For more information about managing remote employees contact us or your trusted HR advisor.
Copyright 2024
Why Atlantic Payroll Partners
The biggest payroll companies probably won’t have time for your business. It’s that simple, you’ll be a number. At Atlantic Payroll Partners, you’ll be the opposite. We’ll know more than your name; we’ll know the names of your children and their birthday’s as well. We will know you.
We’ve been helping Florida business by managing their payroll and providing workers' compensation quotes for ten years. We help keep payroll cost affordable by provided transparent PEO payroll quotes that allow you to plan your budget accordingly. Like the big payroll companies, you can manage your payroll and payroll timekeeping with us, while reaping the benefits of PEO risk management.
Thinking about payroll outsourcing can be scary. Make sure you know what to expect from payroll outsourcing providers; to make the best decision for your business. In addition to offering payroll, and workers' comp quote we offer: Human Resource consultations, Accounting services, and benefits such as, 401ks and Healthcare plans.
Work from home pay, what should it be?
2020 has been a game changer and chances are you as a business owner have had to make some adjustments. One of the key adjustments that presented during the early stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic, remote work. More specifically, what is work from home pay? What should you be paying your employees? Fun fact, since 2005, remote work has soared 173%, according to 2018 data from American Community Service. Whether you recently adopted this remote work model because of the pandemic or have been utilizing it for years, you should know your wage-and-hour responsibilities.
FLSA Rules for Remote Nonexempt Employees
Nonexempt means the employee is not exempt from overtime pay rules under the FLSA. You must pay remote nonexempt employees, whether hourly or salaried, no less than the federal minimum wage, which is currently $7.25. (Many states impose a higher minimum wage.) These employees must also receive overtime pay at 1.5 times their regular rate of pay for hours worked above 40 in a workweek.
The FLSA does not require you to provide short breaks, but if you choose to give them, the time must be paid. Meal periods are unpaid. The FLSA also mandates that you keep records of wages and hours for each remote nonexempt employee.
Challenges: It can be difficult to track hours and breaks for remote nonexempt employees because they’re working from home or elsewhere off-site. Depending on the type of work the employees do, you might not always know when they’re working. This can result in employees working overtime without your consent.
Solutions: Courts have ruled that remote nonexempt employees are responsible for tracking their own work hours, but their employer must give them the tools needed to track their time. For best results, adopt a timekeeping system, such as an online time clock, that simplifies tracking of remote employees’ work time. Also, develop policies regarding work hours, rest breaks, meals and overtime. Communicate the policies in writing to your remote team. Make sure each employee knows his or her work schedule, your expectations and the consequences of violating the policies.
FLSA Rules for Remote Exempt Employees
Employees who are excluded from the FLSA’s overtime pay provisions are “exempt,” meaning they do not need to be paid overtime for hours worked above 40 in a workweek (or other state-mandated rules). If you have remote exempt employees who are salaried, you must pay them their full salary for any week in which they do any work. Under the FLSA, exempt-salaried employees must receive no less than $684 per week, unless an allowable deduction applies.
You don’t have to track work hours for your exempt-salaried remote team because they’re paid based on a predetermined, fixed amount. But you can require that they work a certain number of hours per week. If you don’t track your remote exempt employees’ work hours, you should at least have some type of system for monitoring their day-to-day performance.
Other FLSA Implications
These include travel and on-call time for telecommuters. In both of these situations, determining how to pay telecommuters can be tricky, good thing Atlantic Payroll Partners can help.
Copyright 2024
Why Atlantic Payroll Partners
The biggest payroll companies probably won’t have time for your business. It’s that simple, you’ll be a number. At Atlantic Payroll Partners, you’ll be the opposite. We’ll know more than your name; we’ll know the names of your children and their birthday’s as well. We will know you.
We’ve been helping Florida business by managing their payroll and providing workers' compensation quotes for ten years. We help keep payroll cost affordable by provided transparent PEO payroll quotes that allow you to plan your budget accordingly. Like the big payroll companies, you can manage your payroll and payroll timekeeping with us, while reaping the benefits of PEO risk management.
Thinking about payroll outsourcing can be scary. Make sure you know what to expect from payroll outsourcing providers; to make the best decision for your business. In addition to offering payroll, and workers' comp quote we offer: Human Resource consultations, Accounting services, and benefits such as, 401ks and Healthcare plans.