By: Lynda McNutt Foster
An injunction was filed in a Texas court that temporarily suspended the new overtime rule. See below for story on 10pm WFXR news with Becky Freemal. Click here.
Most large organizations have heard of and taken action regarding the new Overtime Law that will go into effect on December 1, 2016 (or before that for some companies).
Items we’ve been discussing through these newsletters and on WFXR videos, that are now available on our new YouTube channel including the Avalanche of Emails, Time Mastery, Pruning, and Drama in the Workplace, all will begin to show in your bottom line December 1st. Get a jumpstart on those issues now to save big, when it takes effect.
Here are a couple of informative articles that cover the details and how it may affect some of your team members.
How Overtime Law Will Affect You
Here’s What the New Overtime Law Means to Your Business
Here are some things that leaders like you may need to consider beyond how to account for hours of employees and switching some employees from salary to hourly:
How may the change affect morale in your organization?
Many workers feel a great sense of pride and accomplishment when they receive a salary. Changing them to hourly can have an effect on that. If someone has worked for your organization for a significant amount of time and they are in a pool of people that receive a salary and you will have to switch them to an hourly rate their perception of their position and ranking in
the company and on their team might change. They may feel as though they have been demoted, perhaps.
People also tend to calculate their salaries based on an hourly rate of 40 hours a week regardless of how many hours they actually work. How you would need to adjust their pay in order to cover any overtime they may work may seem like a reduction in pay to them even though it may not actually be. Being as clear as possible, being sure to listen to their concerns, addressing any you can, and following up with them to see if they have any more concerns or questions, after you have talked to them, will help convey concern for their well-being and solicit their input.
How will this law affect how your employees design their time?
Many positions now allow workers to do work, at night, and on weekends, from home. With the new law that time may need to be accounted for. Unproductive time spent in meetings that are not properly planned, time spent in the dreaded drama triangle, now could cost your organization substantially. Making the effort to have each employee map and measure their time to determine ways to be more efficient and effective could net big returns come December 1st.
What about those after-hours and weekend emails?
Many dedicated workers return their bosses emails at night and many cover customer service calls on weekends and off hours. Team members email and text other team members all the time during off hours. These communications will need to be accounted for, in the future, with some of your employees.
Will this change in communication flow effect how and when your customers receive responses to their questions? Do you need to set up some automated systems that would allow customers to get their frequently asked questions answered and/or do you also need to set up systems for scheduling or other items to allow customers to self-serve during off hours?
Take time this week to determine what, if any, effect this new law will have on the flow of business in your organization or department, how it may affect some of your team members, and consider the best ways to handle these issues and communicate their effects, before they become real problem for you.
Tommy Strelka, Attorney at Law, Strelka Law Offices, PC, joined me on WFXR’s 10pm news with Becky Freemal on Sunday, September 11, 2016 and on Good Day Virginia on Monday, September 11, 2016, to further discuss this issue.