Does preliminary and postliminary work counts toward overtime?
Employers must be careful to keep payroll policies in line with the Department of Labor's Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). If they aren't properly compensating workers for their employee attendance, they could be investigated by the Wage and Hour Division and ordered to pay back wages or penalties.
When developing employee handbooks and informing workers about company policies, it's important to distinguish activities that will be considered principal, and therefore compensable, from those that are deemed pre- or postliminary tasks that will not receive remuneration. Under the FLSA, employers must pay employees for anytime they are allowed to complete regular job duties for the business, whether it's to correct work that wasn't completed properly during scheduled shifts or tasks that exceed approved hours.
However, the Department of Labor does separate tasks that are integral to the assigned duties and time spent on activities before or after principal work. For instance, employers may not be obligated to pay workers for time spent traveling to and from a job site. On the other hand, businesses might have to pay an employee for time spent cleaning or preparing a machine that's required to perform primary job duties.
If employers are uncertain about which time is compensable, they can record all time attendance to be safe, and consult with a human resources team to get definitive answers about their obligations.
When developing employee handbooks and informing workers about company policies, it's important to distinguish activities that will be considered principal, and therefore compensable, from those that are deemed pre- or postliminary tasks that will not receive remuneration. Under the FLSA, employers must pay employees for anytime they are allowed to complete regular job duties for the business, whether it's to correct work that wasn't completed properly during scheduled shifts or tasks that exceed approved hours.
However, the Department of Labor does separate tasks that are integral to the assigned duties and time spent on activities before or after principal work. For instance, employers may not be obligated to pay workers for time spent traveling to and from a job site. On the other hand, businesses might have to pay an employee for time spent cleaning or preparing a machine that's required to perform primary job duties.
If employers are uncertain about which time is compensable, they can record all time attendance to be safe, and consult with a human resources team to get definitive answers about their obligations.
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