Know when to pay non-exempt employees for training and learning opportunities
Knowing when to pay for employee attendance at training events, seminars and speaking engagements can keep businesses from spending too much on payroll as well as running afoul of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
Hourly workers should usually be compensated for time spent at learning opportunities, according to legal news source Lexology. The exception to payment comes into play when these four principles from the FLSA are met: the event is voluntary, outside of usual work time, does not have direct relevance to the employee's job and does not involve any actual labor on the part of the worker.
The work time, duties performed and voluntary nature exemptions are relatively self-explanatory, but understanding whether or not training is directly related to an employee's job is slightly more difficult. Managers should know that they don't need to compensate employees if a learning opportunity is related to a different occupation or to a skill outside the purview of an employee's current job description.
An easy way to clear up possible issues with employee time, training and limiting additional pay is to provide job-related education during work hours and non-essential learning and enrichment experiences outside of employees' regular schedules.
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