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On the Job, Off the Clock
Many employees today -- especially layoff survivors -- are just happy to have a job. But they have been left in a difficult predicament: significantly increased workloads, leading to trouble getting everything done in the allotted time. Nobody wants to be the one who can't finish all the work; in this economy, that might lead to fears of a pink slip during the next round of layoffs. So some employees find themselves working longer, without being paid -- or even asking -- for overtime. This could potentially be a serious problem for companies, says Charles Wilson, a labor-and-employment attorney in the Houston law office of Epstein Becker Green. Companies that have established a culture of not paying for off-the-clock work will surely save money in the short-term, says Wilson, but those savings could be dwarfed by class-action lawsuits down the line. "Once someone in a supervisory capacity discovers that a non-exempt employee is working or has worked off the clock, that time needs to be compensated -- regardless of what the company's policy is on overtime, regardless of whether the overtime is previously approved," he says. "Once it's worked, it needs to be paid." Wilson says that the situation is even more complex in companies that now have salaried employees, such as managers, doing a lot of the work that had previously been done by hourly employees. "That can be used to challenge the exemption of the managerial employee and say that the manager is no longer a manager and is working as an hourly employee, so all the hours worked, including overtime, must be paid to that manager," he says. Communication, enforcement and training are key to handling this problem, experts say. HR executives should focus on clearly communicating the overtime policy to workers. They must make it clear that, just because the company is cutting back OT, that doesn't mean employee should work off the clock. "One clear step that HR needs to do is get out there and start reminding the managers and employees that the company's culture is one where it pays for ... work and to destroy the perception that off-the-clock work is encouraged," Wilson says. HR also needs to ensure that employees aren't working through lunch or breaks, says Fred Crandall, senior consultant with Watson Wyatt in Chicago. "HR needs to be vigilant in making sure that actual break times are taken, actual meal times are taken and that people follow the regulations in terms of when they sign on and sign off at their position," he says. "I wouldn't say [HR professionals] are enforcement officers but they have the deepest knowledge of the regulations and the consequences to the company if the regulations aren't followed," he says. HR leaders should also work with senior-level managers to reprioritize the work so the most important things get done and items of the lowest importance are left for last, if at all, Crandall says. "Queue it up, because if there aren't enough people to get work done, the question is, what needs to get done first, second, third and so on," he says. Training workers to be more efficient will help as well, says Corliss McGinty, founder of HR consultant Soft Solutions in Greensboro, N.C. "Training, such as time management or goal setting, would be helpful, as well as ways to help [employees] focus and stay engaged, such as stress reduction, humor and some community building," she says. A down economy is no reason to "abuse people" or "encourage living in fear," she says, suggesting instead that companies focus on rewards and recognition for employees working through such difficult times. "Allowing [people to work off the clock] will eventually bite [employers] in the buttocks if they're not careful, costing more than they ever saved by eliminating jobs and cracking the whip," says McGinty.
July 20, 2009 Copyright 2009© LRP Publications |
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