Wage & Hour: Mitigating Risks and ensuring Compliance in 2013
Overview:
As the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor has stepped up investigation and enforcement actions, counsel, HR administrators and compliance officers must work closely to be able to identify risks and ensure compliance to avoid heavy penalties and litigation costs. In this two-hour LIVE webcast, a panel of distinguished practitioners and thought leaders assembled by The Knowledge Group will address the following key issues:
- Introduction to Wage and Hour Laws
- Employee Exemptions
- Wage and Overtime Calculations
- Update on DOL Enforcement Actions
- Best Practices to Identify and Mitigates Risks and Practical Guide to Compliance
- Significant Issues to Consider When Faced With Litigation
- And much more!
Agenda:
SEGMENT 1:
Jay Kalantar, Chief Operations Officer,
EPAY Systems, Inc.
The digital “paper-trail”
- Digital Paper-trail can trace data in a moment’s notice. Using digital capabilities allows you to instantly track all data and in real-time. This level of traceability and access is unprecedented. It allows you to have your finger on the pulse of your business.
- Data DNA can identify the root causes of compliance issues. The data is still generated by people and contains their habits and practices. Using data analytics, employers can identify the key drivers for improvements.
- Stop manual timesheets as sole method of tracking time and attendance. Paper-based processes are fundamentally inefficient and prone to errors. Eliminate mistakes and control your payroll by automating the mundane but critical processes.
Flagging risk
- Identify risk behavior and trends. Simple reports can find the signatures of potential issues. For example. If you are rounding employee hours then what is the variance between actual and rounded times? Know how often employee hours are getting changed. What events trigger these punches….
- Not every flagged risk is necessarily bad, but it is always better to be aware.
Mitigating exposure
- The number of risks flagged is not the primary concern. The key is to properly and systematically address the identified exposures.
- Employers need to build the accountability chain and align their management to implement closed-loop improvement processes.
SEGMENT 2:
David W. Long-Daniels, Shareholder,
Greenberg Traurig LLP
** Speaker Talking Points to be added soon.. **
SEGMENT 3:
Cheryl D. Orr, Partner,
Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
- Shoring up compliance with expense payment obligations
- Confirming wage and hour compliance for dual device usage
- Ensuring proper classification of independent contractors
SEGMENT 4:
David Grant, Partner,
BakerHostetler
- Employers should expect that the Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”), in particular, and the U.S. Department of Labor, in general, will continue its vigorous enforcement of the wage and hour laws and, in the words of AFL-CIO President, Richard Trumka, to “talk tough and act tough.” Directed investigations of employers in particular industries and unannounced visits by WHD investigators are likely to become more rather than less prevalent.
- The Supreme Court’s recent decision to grant the petition for a writ of certiorari filed in Sandifer v. United States Steel Corp. should, among other things, provide additional, welcome clarification to the important question of the degree of deference to be accorded to the WHD’s interpretation of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), especially where the WHD has shifted its position.
- With the courts showing increased scrutiny and skepticism of wage and hour collective/class actions when faced with employer decertification motions, the Solicitor of Labor’s Office likely will look harder at bringing nationwide or enterprise-wide enforcement actions against employers whose policies or practices appear non-compliant. To stop these actions before they start, employers need to be prepared in advance and to think strategically and thoughtfully when they are initially faced with a WHD investigation.
- Continuing litigation attempting to minimize employer utilization of longstanding “fluctuating workweek” principles in overtime and back-wage calculations has enormous practical implications for employers and should be watched carefully.
- Although we are all taught to think “outside the box,” the FLSA does not reward creativity. Working “inside the box” of applicable WHD regulations and interpretations and applying continual vigilance to wage and hour compliance may the best defense against costly private litigation and governmental enforcement activity.
Mr. Kalantar is the Chief Operations Officer at EPAY Systems, Inc., a leader in cloud-based time and labor management systems …
Known for his creative approaches to difficult, high-stakes cases, David Long-Daniels, Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Global Labor and Employment Practice …
Cheryl D. Orr is a partner and cochair of the national Labor & Employment Practice Group. She concentrates her practice …
Partner in the Washington Office of Baker & Hostetler LLP. Chair of the Firm’s Employment and Labor Group. Over 30 …
Course Level:
Intermediate
Advance Preparation:
Print and review course materials
Method of Presentation:
On-demand Webcast (CLE)
Prerequisite:
NONE
Course Code:
134428
NASBA Field of Study:
NY Category of CLE Credit:
Total Credits:
2.0 CLE
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SPEAKERS' FIRMS:
About Epay Systems, Inc.
EPAY Systems provides a cutting-edge time and labor management system that keeps employers in control and in compliance with labor laws and union rules, while reducing labor costs by 5% or more. Our uniquely flexible, web-based BlueforceTM system can adapt to the most complex, distributed labor environments–even yours.Our maintenance free, cloud-based system lets you mix and match time tracking devices. Employees can punch in via our biometric time clocks, IVR, or the web. EPAY is also the leader in mobile/GPS time capture using smartphones and tablets–perfect for a distributed workforce.
Website: https://www.epaysystems.com/
About Greenberg Traurig LLP
Greenberg Traurig is an international law firm with 1,750 attorneys and governmental affairs professionals across the United States and in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. GT offers clients local resources and capabilities in 35 financial, business and government centers, including more U.S. locations than any other Top 10 law firm on The National Law Journal’s 2012 NLJ 250. Greenberg Traurig provides integrated, business-focused legal services for clients ranging from Fortune 500 corporations to innovative start-ups. The firm’s multidisciplinary team includes senior lawyers who have served as chief legal officers at major multinational companies and have spent years solving real-world problems in the business, political and legal arenas. For additional information, please visit.www.gtlaw.com
Website: https://www.gtlaw.com/
About Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP
With 650 lawyers in 11 offices nationwide, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP provides clients with unparalleled service in matters ranging from billion-dollar deals to complex class actions, across a broad spectrum of industries.Our priorities are knowing our clients’ business and providing the value they need so that we can be an integral part of their success. Clients choose us for our sophisticated yet efficient approach to handling their most important business transactions, litigation and government affairs efforts.Our 160-plus year history is marked by service to the public and the bar and innovating for our clients. Today, we combine a comprehensive range of traditional legal practices with significant national roles in such practices as class action defense, corporate and securities, government relations, health care, intellectual property, insurance, investment management, private equity, bankruptcy, energy, environmental, education and communications. We also remain committed to our long tradition of handling pro bono work and taking on unpopular causes.
Website: https://www.drinkerbiddle.com/
About BakerHostetler
BakerHostetler, one of the nation’s largest law firms, represents clients around the globe. With offices coast to coast and more than 800 lawyers, clients count on BakerHostetler to help them grow and protect their businesses in a complex business and regulatory environment. BakerHostetler has five core practice groups: Litigation, Business, Employment and Labor, Intellectual Property and Tax. Within these groups are several large specialty practices, including antitrust, bankruptcy, healthcare, energy, middle-market M&A, complex commercial litigation, data privacy and security, patent prosecution and international tax. Our attorneys have broad knowledge and experience in many industries, including energy, media, manufacturing, healthcare, financial services and insurance, consumer products and hospitality.At BakerHostetler, we distinguish ourselves through our commitment to the highest standard of client care. By emphasizing an approach to service delivery as exacting as our legal work, we are determined to surpass our clients’ expectations. Our national reach includes offices in Cleveland, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Costa Mesa, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando and Washington, D.C.
Website: https://www.bakerlaw.com/