FLSA Working Time: New Liveflo Flowcharts Published!

Author: Michael Cardman, Brightmine Legal Editor

Four new flowcharts have been added to HR & Compliance Center's innovative Liveflo Tool to help an employer manage some of the most difficult wage and hour compliance challenges:

• Determine If Sleeping Time Counts as Hours Worked Under the FLSA;
• Determine If Training or Meetings Count as Hours Worked Under the FLSA;
• Determine If Travel Time Counts as Hours Worked Under the FLSA; and
• Determine If Waiting, On-Call or Break Time Counts as Hours Worked Under the FLSA.

These flowcharts break down the FLSA statute and regulations into a plain English, step-by-step interactive process to help an employer determine whether certain activities nonexempt employees perform must be considered "hours worked." Additional resources are available along the way to provide further detail and practical help.

Properly determining whether employee activities are "hours worked" is crucial. If they are, the employer must pay employees at least the minimum wage for that time, and the hours must be counted toward any applicable overtime threshold. Failure to pay employees for all hours worked and for overtime can result in FLSA-related penalties, lawsuits or enforcement actions.

These four new Liveflo flowcharts replace Determine if an Activity Counts as Hours Worked Under the FLSA. Based on feedback about the complexity of the earlier flowchart, HR & Compliance Center simplified the process with four new, more-targeted flowcharts.

Additional HR & Compliance Center flowcharts address complex workplace issues, such as investigating a claim of sexual harassment, completing the Form I-9 for new hires and disciplining an employee using progressive discipline.