The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 is key piece of compensation legislation. Although FLSA has been around for a long time, it is the most frequently violated employment law. Employers misclassify employees as exempt or fail to calculate working time accurately. Misclassifications can result in severe back pay issues. Calculating overtime incorrectly can often result in overpayments or underpayments.

Violations can not only hurt companies financially, but damage reputations as well.

FLSA cases have hit a new record high and continue to rise. A record breaking 8,126 FLSA suits were filed in federal courts in the last year. All in all, there has been an increase of over 400% since the year 2000. Employers have to be conversant with the intricacies of the law to avoid lawsuits.

What is Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)?

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a federal law which establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping, and youth employment standards. FLSA is administered and enforced by Wage and Hour division of U.S. Dept. of Labor. FLSA has three major objectives. These are:

· To fix a minimum wage below which employees pay cannot fall.

· To encourage full employment by establishing a maximum number of hours employees can work before an employer must pay an overtime premium.

· To safeguard child workers.

There are a number of employment practices which the FLSA does not regulate. These include:

· vacation, holiday, severance, or sick pay

· meal or rest periods, holidays off, or vacations

· premium pay for weekend or holiday work

· pay raises or fringe benefits

· a discharge notice, reason for discharge, or immediate payment of final wages to terminated employees

Scope of FLSA

FLSA provides two different types of coverage:

Enterprise Coverage

If an enterprise is covered, all employees of the enterprise are entitled to FLSA protections. Generally, enterprises with at least two employees or those that generate business of at least $500,000 a year are covered. Hospitals, businesses providing medical or nursing care for residents, schools, preschools and all kinds of government agencies are also covered under the Act.

Individual Coverage

Even if the enterprise is not covered, individual employees may be covered and are entitled to FLSA protections. In case of individual coverage, FLSA covers workers who are engaged in:

· Interstate commerce

· Production of goods for commerce

· Closely related process or occupation directly essential to such production (CRADE)

· Domestic service

Individuals working for small construction companies and independently owned retail or service businesses are usually not covered by FLSA.

FLSA Requirements

The FLSA is a basic regulation that focuses on many areas – from minimum wage to overtime to rules about exempt and non-exempt classifications to child labor and recordkeeping. The basic requirements under FLSA include:

· Minimum wage

· Overtime pay

· Record keeping

· Child labor restrictions/youth employment

Minimum Wage Requirements

FLSA requires that covered, non-exempt employees must be paid not less than federal minimum wage for all hours worked. Under FLSA the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour effective July 24, 2009. Minimum wage includes the following payments/allowances:

· Wages

· Commissions

· Certain bonuses

· Tips received by eligible employees

· Reasonable cost of room, board and other “facilities” provided by the employer for the employee’s benefit

Overtime Pay Requirements

FLSA defines overtime as time worked beyond prescribed hours. Covered, non-exempt employees must receive one and a half times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over forty in a workweek.

Hours Worked and its Components

Hours worked include all the time during which an employee is required to be on the employer’s premises, on duty, or at a prescribed workplace. The main components of hours worked include:

· Suffer or permit to work

· Waiting time

· Travel time

· On-call time

· Training time

· Sleep time

Record Keeping Requirements

Every employer covered by FLSA must maintain certain records for each covered, nonexempt worker. Here is a list of basic records that an employer must maintain:

· Employee’s full name and social security number.

· Address, including zip code.

· Birth date, if younger than 19.

· Sex and occupation.

· Time and day of week when employee’s workweek begins.

· Hours worked each day.

· Total hours worked each workweek.

· Basis on which employee’s wages are paid.

· Regular hourly pay rate.

· Total daily or weekly straight-time earnings.

· Total overtime earnings for the workweek.

· All additions to or deductions from the employee’s wages.

· Total wages paid each pay period.

· Date of payment and the pay period covered by the payment.

Each employer must retain payroll records, collective bargaining agreements, sales and purchase records for at least three years. Wage computation records should be retained for two years. This includes time cards and piece work tickets, wage rate tables, work and time schedules, and records of additions to or deductions from wages.

Child Labor Rules

Child labor provisions under FLSA are designed to protect the educational opportunities of minors. These provisions:

• Prohibit youth employment in jobs that are detrimental to their health and safety

• Restrict hours that those under 16 years of age can work

• List hazardous occupations too dangerous for young workers to perform

FLSA Minimum Wage and Overtime Exemptions

The most common FLSA minimum wage and overtime exemptions, often called “white collar” exemptions, applies to certain:

· Executive Employees

· Administrative Employees

· Professional Employees

· Outside Sales Employees

· Computer Employees

Avoiding FLSA Pitfalls

Wage and hour claims are increasing rapidly. Misclassification of employees is one major area that U.S. Dept. of Labor is clamping down on. The second area that is being investigated is improper payment of overtime. Mistakes in classification and overtime pay can result in major settlements including back pay, payment of fines, and reclassification. So employers should remain compliant with FLSA guidelines and avoid following pitfalls in wage and overtime calculations:

· Improperly applying an exemption.

· Failing to pay for all the hours an employee is suffered or permitted to work.

· Limiting the number of hours employees are allowed to record.

· Failing to include all pay required to be included in calculating the regular rate for overtime.

· Making improper deductions from wages that cut into required minimum wage or overtime.

· Failing to add all hours worked in separate establishments for the same employer when calculating overtime due.

· Treating an employee as an independent contractor.

In his book, The 22 Non-Negotiable Laws of Wellness, author Greg Anderson wrote, “Let us be about setting high standards for life, love, creativity, and wisdom. If our expectations in these areas are low, we are not likely to experience wellness. Setting high standards makes every day and every decade worth looking forward to.”

He also reminded us that, “When we change our perception we gain control. The stress becomes a challenge, not a threat. When we commit to action, to actually doing something rather than feeling trapped by events, the stress in our life becomes manageable.”

There are times when it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and trapped by situations that we’d rather not face. These situations might even be extremely unfair.

It’s easy to focus on how terribly unfair someone might have treated us. It makes sense to believe that unfair things should not be happening. Simply pretending that a problem doesn’t exist is much easier than dealing with it directly. However, stress builds, the situation doesn’t change, and it might grow worse.

In fact, focusing on the way things should be instead of dealing with the way they are can lead to disaster, both physically and emotionally.

Winners set high standards for dealing with problems. They set rules for what they will accept and expect from themselves and others. They realize that it won’t work to stay on a road of denial, and it won’t work to lash out against unfair situations by resisting what is true. They have a much more workable plan.

Indeed, winners keep a positive outlook. However, they know that they must do much more than simply think in a positive way. They mobilize resources and prompt new solutions. Self-confidence and courage allow them to take responsibility for situations, and take well-planned problem-solving actions.

When a solution is not possible, they take valuable lessons from the event. They know there is tremendous life-time value in all experiences.

Ask yourself: What are my standards for dealing with problems? What are my boundaries for the behaviors, attitudes, and actions I will accept from myself and others? What are the highest standards that I will expect myself to live by at all times in each important area of my life?

Establishing and living with high personal standards can prove to be a tremendously liberating and life-changing move. It can help in making wise and informed choices. It can assist us to experience more peace, contentment, and prosperity today and throughout the years to come!

There is a big development currently in the works in the laundry service industry. ASTM (International Technical Committee D13 on Textiles) is in the process of developing a new international standard concerning laundry cleaning best management practices. If successful, the standard will in effect identify and define clear practices with which businesses in the field should be aiming to meet regarding their environmental impact. The goal is to increase energy efficiency and reduce consumption in all respects. Thus, the new development can be seen as a comprehensive effort to target wasteful practices worldwide and eliminate them in due time.

The Environmental Impact of the Laundry Industry

The laundry service industry (i.e. medical linen and hospital laundry service organizations) has a major environmental footprint. These companies use billions of gallons of water each year as well as tons of detergent as they process a vast number of linens in their facilities each and every day.

That being said, ASTM is committed to an overhaul of the ways in which businesses are currently operating. They hope that their new eco-friendly standards will lead to a significant reduction in water usage and promote long-term sustainability of the industry at large. As it currently stands, the newly proposed international standards have a good chance of passing. Once this has happened, commercial laundry facilities will be assessed and subsequently evaluated on a performance scale to determine whether they meet the mark.

A List of ASTM’s Best Practice Standards

ASTM is serious about its efforts, and this is demonstrated by the extensive list of areas which are to be included in the proposed international best practice standards. They are all geared toward promoting eco-friendly operations. This includes the implementation of water reuse technology, boiler heat recovery, wastewater heat recovery, using eco-friendly low temperature detergents, as well as installing energy-efficient lighting in facilities and having an energy audit performed to provide a thorough assessment of a company’s current performance. ASTM is also pushing for the promotion of alternative energy forms, namely the use of solar energy systems to reduce consumption.

If successful, the international best practice standards will be a monumental step in the laundry industry. It will likely take some time for the certification process to go into effect, but we will probably start seeing many businesses making the move to using eco-friendly technologies as a means of preparing themselves for review. ASTM encourages owners of these facilities to support WK35985.

Across the road from a cola bottle made of lights, I sat with a little darlin’ who captured my attention several years before. She was made for me lovely, bodacious as they come, and ready to rock the night away – in my dreams. In reality, we’d crossed 7 decades a few days earlier and held hands as we slowly moved our way through the ear-piercing sound of a Las Vegas night. One last vacation with my baby? I had begged for it.

My heart danced.

You might believe loud music, Las Vegas Cover Bands, and the brilliant lights of the Sunset Strip are made for youth, but I’m telling you, this boomer is rockin’ the socks off his darlin’ with every single dance step. I love me some Las Vegas dancing. And I’d begged for this trip.

As we strolled the strip, hand in hand, she promised me forever. I promised her my heart. Either way, we were winners. Lovers in the city that never goes to sleep. Partners in life. I held her hand, she held my heart.

Tribute Cover Bands.

Walking down the strip we found our forever. She stepped to the beat, missing most of them, but making sure she hit the ones that mattered, taking my heart along. A tribute to the days of yesterday, our focus on tomorrow. I would remember all the days of my life… I would hold onto this moment every day of my life. She played the tribute in my final hours, and I endured.

Our Limo Awaits.

As the lights come on in Vegas, the sun begins to set. But you’d never know there’s no sun high above you, unless you look up. The lights on the strip are bright. And at my age, looking up makes me dizzy. I tend to try to see past my belly to the place I intend to place my foot next, unless I’m dancing. Then, my darlin’ guides my steps to the beat of a cover tune so reggae that Bob Marley comes to mind. He kinda takes over my mind on any given night, laying out the tunes, forcing my feet to move. I feel the tempo. I dance the steps in my heart.

I may be close, but I’m not there yet… Keep the door open darlin’!

Las Vegas Style for Boomers.

Is it real? Or is it just my memory? The sidewalk lit up like the morning, people strolling past, the limo waiting at the sidewalk’s end, and me… Dancing through the night. I may never escape this world I’m livin’ in, but I promise I’ll wait for you at the end.

Was it just yesterday?

I met you on the Strip while you visited someone close. But I never left your side. You took my hand in yours and we walked. I gave you my heart.

Can someone please write this song! The memory of Las Vegas style cover bands rock industry standards… I remember the moment. I remember the time. I remember the dance steps.

It can only happen in Vegas. The songs. The music. The dance.